Excerpts:
Ingenuity communicates with mission control at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, by relaying all messages through the Perseverance rover.
And when Ingenuity took off for flight 52, a hill presented an obstacle blocking the helicopter and rover from communicating with each other.
…
Sometimes, Ingenuity is off exploring and taking images of sites that the rover may not reach for weeks.
Once Perseverance crested the obstructive hill, the helicopter and rover had a chance to communicate and relay Ingenuity’s messages back to Earth — including the data captured during its 139-second-long flight spanning 1,191 feet (363 meters) on April 26.
The stuff NASA does is just so damn impressive.
That copter has been awesome to watch. I’d like to think its success will definitely spawn newer, more capable craft to send to mars.
It’s downright exciting to think that we may be a few more iterations away from having ruggedized vehicles roaming Mars, all times of the year. 🥹