NASA's Mars helicopter Ingenuity has already outperformed predictions on the Red Planet by a factor of four.
"Flight 20 was a success! In its 130.3 seconds of flight, the #MarsHelicopter covered 391 meters [1,283 feet] at a speed of 4.4 meters per second [9.8 mph], bringing it closer to @NASAPersevere's landing location," NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, which manages the missions of both Ingenuity and Perseverance, said via Twitter.
On February 18, 2021, Ingenuity arrived on the floor of Jezero Crater with NASA's life-hunting, sample-caching Perseverance rover. The solar-powered chopper shortly began a five-flight technological demonstration mission to demonstrate that powered flight is conceivable in the thin air of Mars.
Ingenuity aced that first mission and was granted an extension, during which it served as a scout for Perseverance and pushed the boundaries of Red Planet flight. And, on Friday (Feb. 25), Ingenuity reached yet another round-number milestone: its 20th Martian sortie.
Ingenuity and Perseverance spent their first year on Mars exploring areas to the south and west of their touchdown zone, which was named after Octavia E. Butler, a famous science-fiction novelist. The two are currently returning to the landing site, according to the tweet, on their way to more interesting real estate beyond.
A lake and a river delta existed billions of years ago on the 28-mile-wide (45-kilometer) Jezero. River deltas on Earth are excellent at storing carbon-containing organic compounds and traces of life. As a result, the Perseverance team is eager to access and sample remnants of the ancient delta, which they want to do in the near future.
"The delta in Jezero Crater is the reason we chose the landing site, and we hope to get to it later this spring," Perseverance science team member Briony Horgan, an associate professor of planetary science at Purdue University, said in a video released by the school earlier this month.
"Once we're there, we'll be able to look at the bottom of the ancient lake that once filled Jezero to search for signs of ancient microbial life, and we plan to spend the whole next year traveling through the ancient lake deposits and ancient river deposits that are within the delta," she added.
According to mission team members, Ingenuity is assisting Perseverance in getting there by taking airborne imagery that lets the rover's handlers determine the safest and most efficient route toward the delta region.
