Ingenuity set a record by flying 46 feet high on Mars

NASA's helicopter Ingenuity has been giving surprises one after another since it was sent to Mars in February last year as a companion to the robotic vehicle named the Perseverance. After spending a year and a half on the ground of the red planet, this helicopter weighing 1 kg and 800 grams has set a new record of flying 46 feet high above the ground of Mars. This spacecraft of the United States Space Research Institute flew in the sky of Mars for the 35th time on December 3. At that time, the copter was hovering for 52 seconds and covered a distance of 50 meters. After nearly a month of space travel, the Orion spacecraft of the Artemis One mission will land on the sea surface of the California coast after 11:00 PM Bangladesh time on Sunday. Just before this landing, news agency Reuters reported this new record. According to the news, earlier on November 22, the helicopter flew in the sky for a maximum of 18 seconds. Researchers have since updated the helicopter's software to further extend its lifespan. They then test flew the helicopter for a long time. After this, the robot collected two samples of Martian sand on December 2 and 6. The robot will leave these samples at a place at the end of this month. And around 2030, the scientists plan to bring these samples to the Earth in the future Mars mission. Scientists say software updates to the helicopter will now avoid collisions when landing on Mars' rocky surface. As a result of Ingenuity's success, NASA plans to send two more such helicopters to Mars later this decade to retrieve samples, Bob Balaram, Ingenuity's chief engineer, wrote on the NASA blog. The Mars Sample Retrieval Lander will be sent to Mars by the end of this decade. Such helicopters used for sample retrieval will have wheels instead of normal legs. Also it will have short arms. This arm will be used to collect samples from Mars. Apart from this, helicopters capable of collecting five kg samples are also being planned.