The history-making Ingenuity helicopter, currently parked in the Jezero Crater on Mars, will be getting more vacation time this year than a lot of Americans. The Mars Helicopter, Ingenuity, is a technology demonstration to test powered, controlled flight on another world for the first time. It hitched a ride to Mars on the Perseverance rover. The helicopter completed its technology demonstration after three successful flights. For the first flight on April 19, 2021, Ingenuity took off, climbed to about 10 feet (3 meters) above the ground, hovered in the air briefly, completed a turn, and then landed. After that, the helicopter successfully performed additional experimental flights of incrementally farther distance and greater altitude.
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