Mars Helicopter Updates

Overview: NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter has completed 72 flights since first taking to the skies above the Red Planet, ending its mission on Jan. 25, 2024. Look at the archived mission updates written by the Mars Helicopter team. 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.

Rover, Helicopter Locations in Jezero Crater

Unlocking the Martian Skies – Using Ingenuity as a Martian Testbed for Future Rotorcraft

5 min read

Unlocking the Martian Skies – Using Ingenuity as a Martian Testbed for Future Rotorcraft

Article8 months ago

Ingenuity Reestablishes Communications

1 min read

On Saturday, Jan. 20, communications were reestablished between Ingenuity and NASA’s Perseverance rover.

Article10 months ago

Flight 72 Status Update

1 min read

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.

Article10 months ago
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.

Flight 72 Preview – By the Numbers

1 min read

Flight 72 Preview – By the Numbers

Article10 months ago
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.

Flight 71 Preview – By the Numbers

1 min read

Flight 71 Preview – By the Numbers

Article10 months ago
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.

Flight 70 Preview – By the Numbers

1 min read

Flight 70 Preview – By the Numbers

Article11 months ago

The Right Stuff

9 min read

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

Article11 months ago
NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter acquired this image using its high-resolution color camera on Dec. 2, 2023.

Flight 69 Preview – By the Numbers

1 min read

Flight 69 Preview – By the Numbers

Article11 months ago
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.

Flight 68 Preview – By the Numbers

1 min read

Flight 68 Preview – By the Numbers

Article11 months ago
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.

Flight 67 Preview – By the Numbers

1 min read

Flight 67 Preview – By the Numbers

Article12 months ago