A new video reveals NASAs Mars helicopter Ingenuity as it finished its most current bold brief flight hop in the thinning atmosphere of the Red Planet.The 23-second flight saw the little Ingenuity helicopter, a partner on the larger Perseverance rover objective, hop 16 feet (5 meters) high and make a sideways maneuver prior to touching down. At Space.com, we assembled images from the flight to create this full video of Ingenuitys 14th flight that captures the drones shadow on the Martian terrain below, together with its rotors, which were spinning more rapidly than ever before.The 14th Ingenuity flight on Sunday (Oct. 24) was shorter and flew lower than previous ones, because engineers were checking the drones capability to cope throughout normal seasonal conditions that see thinning environment of Mars. As temperature levels at the choppers Jezero Crater landing website get warmer, the airplanes rotors should turn quicker to keep it in the air.Related: Its getting more difficult to fly the Ingenuity helicopter on MarsThis picture from NASAs Mars helicopter Ingenuity shows the drones shadow on the Martian surface during its 14th flight, which occurred Oct. 24, 2021. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech) In September, when NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory was preparing the flight, they stated the rotor would need to spin at roughly 2,700 revolutions per minute (RPM), compared to past flights where the drone attained 2,537 RPM. The higher rotation rate was meant to cope with the thinning atmosphere.Ingenuity is implied to be a test of flying on Mars, and it has actually far surpassed its original flight strategy. After completing numerous short hops and longer flights, the drone is well into a prolonged objective in which it is beginning to hunt ahead for Perseverance, which is taking a look at a set of layered rocks right now in Jezero Crater.Future Martian objectives will benefit from drones, NASA has actually stated, which have advantages over rovers, landers and prospective spacesuited astronauts because the helicopters can get context from high in the air and they can examine features that may be hazardous to approach on the surface, such as deep craters or steep hills.This 14th flight of Ingenuity was initially anticipated on Sept. 18, but was delayed due to an anomaly discovered throughout a pre-flight checkout. Resourcefulness discovered a problem with two of its flight-control servo motors, which adjust the rotor pitch for the helicopter to alter position and orientation in mid-air. Evaluating on Sept. 21 and Sept. 23 did not see the problem come up once again, however Ingenuity remained grounded for nearly an Earth month because Mars experienced solar conjunction, an event throughout which the orbit of the two worlds puts the sun in between for a number of weeks. This can disrupt interactions between the worlds, and Mars missions generally suspend most work as a precaution.Follow Elizabeth Howell on Twitter @howellspace. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook..
