Michael Wall is a Senior Space Writer with Space.com and joined the team in 2010. He primarily covers exoplanets, spaceflight and military space, but has been known to dabble in the space art beat. His book about the search for alien life, 'Out There,' was published on Nov. 13, 2018.
NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, right, stands near the apex of a sand ripple in an image taken by the Perseverance rover on Feb. 24, 2024, about five weeks after the rotorcraft’s final flight. Part of one of Ingenuity’s rotor blades lies on the surface about 49 feet west of the helicopter .
And Ingenuity just kept on flying, on an extended mission during which the helicopter served as a scout for Perseverance. Over the course of its 72 Mars flights, Ingenuity stayed aloft for a total of 129 minutes and covered 10.5 miles of ground — more than 14 times farther than it was originally expected to go, according to NASA officials.
Ingenuity will continue to wake up every day, activate its onboard computers and test its solar panels, batteries and electronics, NASA officials added. The chopper will also photograph the Martian surface and collect temperature data at its final landing site, a spot the team calls Valinor Hills.
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