NASA's Mars Helicopter breaks its own record

For the 25th time, the Ingenuity robotic helicopter took to the skies, setting speed and distance records.  

NASA had originally expected only 4-5 flights for the helicopter, which weighs just 1.8 kilograms, but last Friday Ingenuity completed its 25th flight on the red planet, and this time it also broke its own distance and speed records. A statement from the space agency according to the device travelled 704 metres at a time, at a speed of 5.5 metres per second, and was in the air for a total of 161.3 seconds.

The Ingenuity helicopter, attached to the Perseverance Mars rover, arrived on Mars last February with the aim of finding out whether robots of similar design could carry out their mission on the alien planet.

Recently, the Mars rover Perseverance also managed to set a record, and like his partner, he set a new distance record. While the previous record holder, Opportunity, managed a maximum distance of 219 metres in a day, Perseverance recently covered 319 metres in 24 hours. Researchers say the rover is also constantly improving, so it is possible that new records will soon be broken.

The two instruments landed on Mars as part of the Mars 2020 programme, with the aim of studying the Martian surface and finding out whether life existed on the red planet. The Martian rover's greatest scientific achievement to date is the proof that there was once water in the Jezero crater.