NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Makes Successful Second Flight

NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter successfully completed its second Mars flight on April 22. The follow-up flight over Jezero Crater  added several new challenges to the first, which took place on April 19, including a higher altitude, longer flight duration, and sideways movement. The helicopter hovered briefly (for 51.9 seconds) and reached a height of 16 feet. Ingenuity's flight control system then performed a slight, 5-degree tilt, allowing some of the thrust from the counter-rotating rotors to accelerate the craft sideways for 7 feet.