NASA Mars helicopter set a flight altitude record of 14m

CTOnews.com, Dec. 7 (Xinhua)-- NASA's Smart Mars helicopter is still flying on Mars and set a flight altitude record on its 35th flight on Saturday.

The brave helicopter set an "all-time record" for flying at an altitude of 46 feet (14 meters) over dusty Mars, NASA JPL said in a tweet on Tuesday.

Although 14 meters does not sound high, keep in mind that this is flying in the thin atmosphere of Mars. The helicopter's previous record was 39 feet (12 meters), which it has reached in previous flights.

CTOnews.com learned that Smart's 35th flight lasted 52 seconds and had a distance of 15 meters. The purpose of the flight was to relocate the helicopter. Dexterity needs to keep in touch with its companion perseverance rover, which is a conduit of communication between Smart and its team on Earth. Some of the cleverness flew to keep up with the rovers, some to spy on the terrain, and some to test hardware or software.

Smart's latest software update prepares it to deal with more challenging terrain and continues to work as a scout for the Mars rover.