NASA releases an extraordinary map. It's about Mars

In February 2021, the Perseverance rover landed on the surface of Mars and continues to explore the Red Planet to this day. It was also accompanied by a small drone called Ingenuity, which made the first-ever flight on the fourth planet from the sun.

Heroic drone on Mars

Ingenuity's capabilities exceeded the engineers' wildest expectations. Ultimately, it was supposed to operate for 30 days, but ultimately it flew regularly on the surface of Mars for almost 3 years. During this time, he made as many as 72 flights, covering a total distance of 17.7 km, which in turn took him 129 minutes. The longest one was 705 meters long. During it, the drone reached a maximum speed of 36 km/h.

Ingenuity has significantly exceeded expectations, soaring higher and faster than previously imagined. Designed as a technology demonstration that was expected to fly no more than five test flights in 30 days, Ingenuity ultimately flew more than 14 times farther than expected and logged more than two hours of total flight time.

– we read in the NASA announcement.

It was only on January 18, 2024 that a small drone came to life. During one of the flights, NASA lost contact with it just before landing. It quickly turned out that there would be no more flying. Ingenuity broke its rotor blades and was permanently grounded. Now NASA remembers all his achievements and presents a detailed map of all his flights.

NASA is already planning to send another drone, this time to Titan, one of Saturn's moons. This one will be much larger, as it will be comparable in size to a car. The mission is scheduled to launch in 2028.