The Mars helicopter Ingenuity has made its third flight of the year, which also marks its 40th flight since it landed in the Jezero crater along with the Perseverance rover in February 2021. Despite being originally intended for just five flights and having to weather the Martian winter, the little helicopter is still going strong as it comes up to its second anniversary on the red planet.
The details of each Ingenuity flight are recorded in the Flight Log, which shows how far the flight was in terms of horizontal distance covered, plus the maximum altitude and maximum groundspeed that the helicopter achieved, as well as the flight duration and route. While Ingenuity is in the air, it takes photos not only with its 13-megapixel color camera but also with its 0.5-megapixel black-and-white navigation camera. The navigation camera points downward toward the surface and is used by the helicopter’s onboard computer to determine its position and altitude. On a typical flight, the helicopter will take a few color images but many more black and white images as these are needed for it to fly correctly.