The NASA helicopter completed its 59th flight to Mars, breaking the altitude record

Thanks to CTOnews.com netizens for the delivery of clues on the way! CTOnews.com, September 20 (Xinhua)-- NASA's Ingenuity helicopter continues to break the limits of flight on Mars. The 1.8-kilogram helicopter completed its 59th flight on Mars last Saturday, flying higher than ever before.

According to NASA's Southern California Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), the Smart helicopter successfully completed its 59th flight, setting a new record, reaching an altitude of 20 meters and staying in the air for 142.59 seconds.

It is reported that the 59th flight of the Smart helicopter was completely hovering and did not move horizontally.

The dexterity helicopter landed with the Yili rover at the bottom of the 45-kilometer-diameter Jazelo crater in February 2021, which long ago had a large lake and a river delta.

According to CTOnews.com, perseverance is looking for signs of ancient Martian life in Jazelo crater and collecting samples of future returns to Earth. The Smart helicopter provides reconnaissance services to the Mars rover team, helps find a good route for perseverance travel, and identifies promising scientific goals for research.

In its 59 flights, Smart flew a total of 13304 meters and stayed for 106.5 minutes. Before the 59th flight, the helicopter recorded an altitude of 18 meters, a single flight distance of 704m and a duration of 169.5 seconds, which was set in April 2022 and August 2021, respectively.