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Ingenuity Postpones Flights Until August

The first flight of NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter – and the first powered, controlled flight on another planet – was captured in this image from Mastcam-Z, a pair of zoomable cameras aboard NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover, on April 19, 2021.

Ingenuity's First Flight Recorded by Mastcam-Z: The first flight of NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter – and the first powered, controlled flight on another planet – was captured in this image from Mastcam-Z, a pair of zoomable cameras aboard NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover, on April 19, 2021.

NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU.

It’s now dust season and winter on Mars, meaning there’s more dust in the air and less sunlight to help recharge Ingenuity’s batteries. Dust levels are expected to subside later in July, so the team has decided to give the helicopter’s batteries a break for a few weeks and build their daily state of charge back up. Weather permitting, Ingenuity is expected to be back in the air around the start of August.

Written by NASA/JPL