Mars Helicopter Ingenuity Soars on 22nd Red Planet Flight

The aircraft’s sorties are helping NASA’s Perseverance rover scout a path into an ancient Martian river delta

Join Our Community of Science Lovers!

NASA’s Mars helicopter Ingenuity has done it again, soaring successfully on its 22nd Red Planet flight.

The 4-pound (1.8 kilograms) Ingenuity stayed aloft for 101.4 seconds and reached a maximum altitude of 33 feet (10 meters) during the sortie, which took place on Sunday (March 20), according to a Monday (March 21) tweet by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California, which manages Ingenuity’s mission.

Ingenuity and NASA’s Perseverance rover landed together inside Mars’ Jezero Crater in February 2021. Jezero hosted a lake and a river delta billions of years ago, making it a great spot for the life-hunting, sample-caching Perseverance to explore, NASA officials have said.

On supporting science journalism

If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.

The little chopper quickly aced its five-flight original mission, which was designed to show that aerial exploration is possible on Mars. After this success, NASA granted Ingenuity a mission extension, during which the rotorcraft has been serving as a scout for Perseverance.

The rover’s handlers are currently steering Perseverance toward an accessible part of the ancient delta, and Ingenuity’s observations are helping them pick the best route, mission team members have said.

During its first 21 flights, Ingenuity flew a total of 15,247 feet (4,647 m) and stayed in the air for nearly 39 minutes, according to a flight log maintained by the mission team.

Those numbers should continue to grow beyond the additions provided by Sunday’s flight; Ingenuity is in good health, JPL officials have said, and NASA recently extended the helicopter’s operations again, through at least this September.

Subscribe to Support Independent Journalism

Great science journalism requires human expertise, time, effort and creativity. And it costs money. That’s why I and the journalists here at Scientific American hope you’ll join our community.

When you subscribe, you are supporting staff and freelance journalists who are passionate about telling science stories that are true, important and compelling. Our editors and reporters are often experts in their fields, which means they understand the nuances of big discoveries and can untangle the breakthroughs from the hype. With a subscription, you are also supporting rigorous fact-checking to ensure the words we publish are precise and accurate. And you’re supporting original illustrations, graphics and photos that bring you closer to an advanced laboratory, an ice sheet in Antarctica or a space mission in orbit. You’re helping us craft other types of high-quality journalism as well: Our newsletters are carefully written, edited and curated by staffers you have or will come to know and love. Our Science Quickly podcast is based on original reporting, collaboration with editors and scientists and exacting production.

Subscriptions keep this engine running so we can continue to deliver thoughtful, rigorous and independent science journalism to you. In an era of viral misinformation, this work is crucial. If you value what we do, I hope you’ll consider joining us as a subscriber

Thank you,

Jeanna Bryner, Editor in Chief, Scientific American