Ingenuity made its 51th flight on Mars and took an impressive picture

(NASA / JPL-Caltech https://bit.ly/3Nm9Snd)

Ingenuity has made its 51th flight on Mars, marking the two-year anniversary of the start of flights in the planet's atmosphere.

During the flight, the marscopter received a picture of the vicinity of Lake Jezero crater, which was hit by its shadow and the Perseverance rover.

On April 19, the Martian drone celebrated two years of missions on Mars, although its lifespan was originally estimated at one month.

Before that, the marscopter set a new record for flight altitude during its 50th flight: 18 meters.

FIFTY-ONE
The 51st flight took place on April 22, during which Ingenuity flew 188 meters in a horizontal direction in 136.9 seconds.

The drone reached a height of 12 meters and moved at a speed of 4 meters per second.

During this flight, the marscopter received a number of new images of Mars, including color ones.

One of them showed the Belva crater, the Perseverance rover and the shadow of Ingenuity itself.

The sky in the picture only appears blue due to the camera's automatic settings.

Previously, the rover photographed the drone, which was already noticeably covered in dust.

Ingenuity continues to move with the rover up the bed of the ancient river in the Lake crater.

However, the flights have become more difficult due to the rugged terrain, which may cause communication problems.

In addition, the wear and tear of drone elements is constantly increasing: during winter it lost its inclinometer, so engineers predict the helicopter will fail at any moment.

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