Ingenuity completes 49th flight on Mars
Click for interactive map.
The Ingenuity team today posted the official flight totals for the Mars helicopter’s 49th flight, which took place yesterday.
The helicopter flew 925 feet for 143 seconds, or two minutes and twenty-three seconds. The plan had been to fly 894 feet for 135 seconds, but has been happening consistently for the past dozen or so flights, the helicopter spent a little more time in the air and traveled a little farther.
As for altitude, it apparently did exactly as planned, averaging about 40 feet in height until the end of the mission, when Ingenuity went straight up another twelve feet to get a wider view of its landing area.
The map to the right shows the context. The green dot marks Ingenuity’s location at the start of the flight. The green line indicates my approximate estimate of its flight path and landing area, which the engineering team has not yet posted. The white dots and line mark Perseverance’s path, with its present location at the area dubbed Tenby where it has obtained its first core sample from the top of the delta.
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In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
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Click for interactive map.
The Ingenuity team today posted the official flight totals for the Mars helicopter’s 49th flight, which took place yesterday.
The helicopter flew 925 feet for 143 seconds, or two minutes and twenty-three seconds. The plan had been to fly 894 feet for 135 seconds, but has been happening consistently for the past dozen or so flights, the helicopter spent a little more time in the air and traveled a little farther.
As for altitude, it apparently did exactly as planned, averaging about 40 feet in height until the end of the mission, when Ingenuity went straight up another twelve feet to get a wider view of its landing area.
The map to the right shows the context. The green dot marks Ingenuity’s location at the start of the flight. The green line indicates my approximate estimate of its flight path and landing area, which the engineering team has not yet posted. The white dots and line mark Perseverance’s path, with its present location at the area dubbed Tenby where it has obtained its first core sample from the top of the delta.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
While Ingenuity currently holds all of the Martian aviation records, I would like to see the team find out just how high they can go. The engineers have an idea, but talkin’ ain’t doin’. Gun it, and run it.