The Mars Ingenuity helicopter is to take a breather to recharge its batteries after its latest successful flight a little over a month ago.
Power is a problem for the experimental flying machine as dust in the Martian atmosphere means less sunlight is reaching the vehicle’s solar panels to charge its batteries. Ingenuity has managed one flight following a workaround to deal with a failed inclinometer, as well as a loss of communication caused by power issues, but will attempt no more until at least August.
All told, the helicopter has managed 29 flights since it first took to the Martian skies over a year ago. The latest, in June, went on for a little over a minute as the helicopter hustled to a spot for better communications with the Perseverance rover.
Ingenuity has surpassed all reasonable expectations for performance and longevity, although the clock is…