NASA's Martian Helicopter to Conduct 1st Flight in 2022

NASA's Martian helicopter, Ingenuity, will conduct its first flight in 2022 this Friday, media agencies reported on Thursday.

The 19th flight is scheduled to take only 100 seconds, and it is expected to be harsh as the previous trips the device made. "The flight has a challenging start due to featureless sandy terrain that the helicopter currently sits on," Ingenuity's pilot Martin Cacan said.

In addition, the upcoming trip will target discovering the Martian Jezero river delta, according to Cacan, explaining: "The current mission goal is to reach the Jezero river delta to aid the Perseverance rover in path planning and scientific discovery."

Last December, NASA highlighted that the helicopter reached a new milestone after its 17 flights, the helicopter did a total of 30 minutes and 48 seconds of air time, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory said in a statement.

The data of the Ingenuity helicopter was released because of “an unexpected cutoff to the in-flight data stream as the helicopter descended toward the surface at the conclusion of its flight.”

The statement added: “NASA’s Perseverance rover in February has been battling normal seasonal changes in the atmosphere that require its rotor to spin a little faster against thinner air, which appears to be working well so far.”

Regarding the details of the upcoming flight, it is supposed to fly 754 feet (230 meters) with 5.6 mph (9 kph) speed.