Mars    Helicopter

Status Updates

March 29, 2024
 Unlocking the Martian Skies – Using Ingenuity as a Martian Testbed for Future Rotorcraft
 Written by Martin Cacan, Chief Pilot for Ingenuity Mars Helicopter at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and Shannah Withrow-Maser, Rotorcraft Aeromechanics Lead at NASA’s Ames Research Center
This map shows the locations of NASA’ Perseverance rover (white star) and Ingenuity Mars Helicopter (cyan star) on Dec. 19, 2023, the 1,007th Martian day, or sol, of the rover’s mission at Mars.
Rover, Helicopter Locations in Jezero Crater: Helicopter and rover locations on Sol 1007. Ingenuity conducted Flights 68 and 69 in the lower flat section of Neretva Vallis while the rover conducted science operations in Gnaraloo Bay and started its westward traverse to the crater rim. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech. Download image ›
Nowhere on Earth can we fully replicate the conditions on Mars. Special facilities can re-create certain elements with enough fidelity to test specific scenarios, but each is limited, leading to a plethora of platforms and scenarios required to span the conditions of Mars. In our prior post, “The Right Stuff,” the focus was using Ingenuity on Mars to test our macro capabilities: flying higher a...
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January 22, 2024
 Ingenuity Reestablishes Communications
 Written by NASA/JPL
On Saturday, Jan. 20, communications were reestablished between Ingenuity and NASA’s Perseverance rover. The Ingenuity team has determined the helicopter is power-positive and is sitting vertically on the surface. Next steps include running further diagnostic checks, commanding Ingenuity to take photos of its location on the surface, and performing a spin test. 
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January 19, 2024
 Flight 72 Status Update
 Written by NASA/JPL
On Jan. 18, NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter executed its 72nd flight at the Red Planet. The flight was designed as a quick pop-up vertical flight to check out the helicopter’s systems, following an unplanned early landing during its previous flight. Data Ingenuity sent to the Perseverance rover (which acts as a relay between the helicopter and Earth) during the flight indicates it successfully...
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January 17, 2024
 Flight 72 Preview – By the Numbers
 Written by NASA/JPL
This map shows the locations of NASA’ Perseverance rover (white star) and Ingenuity Mars Helicopter (cyan star) on Dec. 19, 2023, the 1,007th Martian day, or sol, of the rover’s mission at Mars.
Mars Helicopter Sol 1009 - Navigation Camera: NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter acquired this image using its navigation camera. This camera is mounted in the helicopter's fuselage and pointed directly downward to track the ground during flight. This image was acquired on Dec. 22, 2023 (Sol 1009 of the Perseverance rover mission) at the local mean solar time of 10:15:29. This was the date of Ingenuity's 70th flight. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech. Download image ›
Flight 72 Expected flight date: 01/18/2024 Horizontal flight distance: 0 meters Expected flight time: 32.08 seconds Flight altitude: 12 meters Heading: NA Max flight speed: 0 m/s Goal of flight: Pop-up Flight - Localization Airfield: Same
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January 05, 2024
 Flight 71 Preview – By the Numbers
 Written by NASA/JPL
This map shows the locations of NASA’ Perseverance rover (white star) and Ingenuity Mars Helicopter (cyan star) on Dec. 19, 2023, the 1,007th Martian day, or sol, of the rover’s mission at Mars.
Mars Helicopter Sol 1007 - Navigation Camera: NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter acquired this image using its navigation camera. This camera is mounted in the helicopter's fuselage and pointed directly downward to track the ground during flight. This image was acquired on Dec. 20, 2023 (Sol 1007 of the Perseverance rover mission) at the local mean solar time of 10:15:33. This was the date of Ingenuity's 69th flight. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech. Download image ›
Flight 71 Expected flight date: 01/06/2024 Horizontal flight distance: 358.3 meters Expected flight time: 124.92 seconds Flight altitude: 12 meters Heading: West Max flight speed: 7 m/s Goal of flight: Reposition Helicopter Airfield: Same
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December 21, 2023
 Flight 70 Preview – By the Numbers
 Written by NASA/JPL
This map shows the locations of NASA’ Perseverance rover (white star) and Ingenuity Mars Helicopter (cyan star) on Dec. 19, 2023, the 1,007th Martian day, or sol, of the rover’s mission at Mars.
Mars Helicopter Sol 990 - Color Camera: NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter acquired this image using its high-resolution color camera. This camera is mounted in the helicopter's fuselage and pointed approximately 22 degrees below the horizon. This image was acquired on Dec. 2, 2023 (Sol 990 of the Perseverance rover mission) at the local mean solar time of 10:21:32. This was the date of Ingenuity's 67th flight. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech. Download image ›
Flight 70 Expected flight date: 12/22/2023 Horizontal flight distance: 258.735 meters Expected flight time: 129.37 seconds Flight altitude: 12 meters Heading: West Max flight speed: 3 m/s Goal of flight: Reposition Helicopter Airfield: Same
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December 20, 2023
 The Right Stuff
 Written by Travis Brown, Chief Engineer, and Martin Cacan, Chief Pilot, Ingenuity Mars Helicopter at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory
This map shows the locations of NASA’ Perseverance rover (white star) and Ingenuity Mars Helicopter (cyan star) on Dec. 19, 2023, the 1,007th Martian day, or sol, of the rover’s mission at Mars.
First Controlled Flight of Mars Helicopter Prototype: The first full-scale Ingenuity prototype is tested inside JPL’s 25-foot thermal-vacuum chamber (5/31/2016). Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech. Download image ›
Trailblazer Long before Ingenuity’s historic first flight on Mars, engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California and their collaborators at AeroVironment Inc. were already moving the boundaries of human knowledge and aeronautic achievement with testing here on Earth. Flights by an Ingenuity prototype in 2016 showed that controlled, aerodynamic flight was possible in a ...
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December 19, 2023
 Flight 69 Preview – By the Numbers
 Written by NASA/JPL
This map shows the locations of NASA’ Perseverance rover (white star) and Ingenuity Mars Helicopter (cyan star) on Dec. 19, 2023, the 1,007th Martian day, or sol, of the rover’s mission at Mars.

Mars Helicopter Sol 990 - Color Camera: NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter acquired this image using its high-resolution color camera. This camera is mounted in the helicopter's fuselage and pointed approximately 22 degrees below the horizon. This image was acquired on Dec. 2, 2023 (Sol 990 of the Perseverance rover mission) at the local mean solar time of 10:20:52. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech. Download image ›

Flight 69 Expected flight date: 12/19/2023 Horizontal flight distance: 702.37 meters Expected flight time: 131.10 seconds Flight altitude: 16 meters Heading: East-northeast Max flight speed: 10 m/s Goal of flight: Flight Test Airfield: Same
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December 08, 2023
 Flight 68 Preview – By the Numbers
 Written by NASA/JPL
This map shows the locations of NASA’ Perseverance rover (white star) and Ingenuity Mars Helicopter (cyan star) on Dec. 19, 2023, the 1,007th Martian day, or sol, of the rover’s mission at Mars.
Mars Helicopter Sol 962 - Navigation Camera: NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter acquired this image using its navigation camera. This camera is mounted in the helicopter's fuselage and pointed directly downward to track the ground during flight. This image was acquired on Nov. 4, 2023 (Sol 962 of the Perseverance rover mission) at the local mean solar time of 10:13:26. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech. Download image ›
Flight 68 Expected flight date: 12/09/2023 Horizontal flight distance: 828 meters Expected flight time: 146.56 seconds Flight altitude: 16 meters Heading: Northeast (out & back flight) Max flight speed: 10 m/s Goal of flight: Flight Test Airfield: Same
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November 30, 2023
 Flight 67 Preview – By the Numbers
 Written by NASA/JPL
This map shows the locations of NASA’ Perseverance rover (white star) and Ingenuity Mars Helicopter (cyan star) on Dec. 19, 2023, the 1,007th Martian day, or sol, of the rover’s mission at Mars.
Mars Helicopter Sol 961 - Navigation Camera: NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter acquired this image using its navigation camera. This camera is mounted in the helicopter's fuselage and pointed directly downward to track the ground during flight. This image was acquired on Nov. 3, 2023 (Sol 961 of the Perseverance rover mission) at the local mean solar time of 10:33:56. This was the date of Ingenuity's 66th flight. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech. Download image ›
Flight 67 Expected flight date: 12/02/2023 Horizontal flight distance: 392.84 meters Expected flight time: 133.57 seconds Flight altitude: 12 meters Heading: Northwest Max flight speed: 5.3 m/s Goal of flight: Reposition the helicopter Airfield: New
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About This Blog

These blog updates were provided by the Mars Helicopter team. The Mars Helicopter was a technology demonstration to test the first powered flight on Mars.

Dates of planned test activities sometimes changed due to a variety of factors related to the Martian environment, communication relays, helicopter and/or rover status.

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Contributors+

  • Ben Morrell
    Ingenuity Operations Engineer, NASA/JPL
  • Bob Balaram
    Chief Engineer for the Mars Helicopter Project, NASA/JPL
  • David Agle
    Media Representative, NASA/JPL
  • Håvard Grip
    Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Chief Pilot, NASA/JPL
  • Jaakko Karras
    Ingenuity Chief Engineer, NASA/JPL
  • Josh Ravich
    Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Mechanical Engineering Lead, NASA/JPL
  • Joshua Anderson
    Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Operations Lead, NASA/JPL
  • Martin Cacan
    Ingenuity Pilot, NASA/JPL
  • MiMi Aung
    Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Project Manager, NASA/JPL
  • Teddy Tzanetos
    Ingenuity Team Lead, NASA/JPL
  • Travis Brown
    Chief Engineer Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, NASA/JPL

Where is the Mars Helicopter?

Image of a rover pin-point at Perseverance's location on Mars, Jezero Crater

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Raw Images

Image taken by Ingenuity Helicopter on Mars

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