The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) has announced that it would continue to operate its uncrewed Ingenuity helicopter on Mars up to and into September. Ingenuity is the first aircraft to operate on a world other than Earth. Because of the distance between Earth and Mars, Ingenuity cannot be remote-controlled and functions autonomously.

Intended originally as a pure technology demonstrator, simply meant to establish whether controlled flight was possible in the very thin Martian atmosphere, Ingenuity has become a most valuable reconnaissance and survey asset for the Perseverance rover, which carried the tiny aircraft to Mars. Perseverance also acts as the radio relay station for communications between the helicopter and its mission team on Earth.

“Less than a year ago we didn’t even know if powered, controlled flight of an aircraft at [sic] Mars was possible,” highlighted Nasa Science Mission Directorate associate administrator Thomas Zurbuchen. “Now, we are looking forward to Ingenuity’s involvement in Perseverance’s second science campaign. Such a transformation of mindset in such a short period is simply amazing, and one of the most historic in the annals of air and space exploration.”

The announcement of the extension of its mission came after the little helicopter had completed its twenty-first flight. It was currently redeploying to its new area of operations, in the process flying across the north-western part a region that has been designated ‘Séitah’. It will need at least two more flights to complete this move, which will take it to the incredibly ancient river delta in the Jezero Crater. Once there, its mission will be to reconnoitre two dry river channels, to help Perseverance mission control determine which of them the rover should use to move up to the top of the delta.

The fan-shaped delta is several kilometres across, and rises more than 40 m above the crater floor. It is characterised by projecting boulders, angled surfaces and jagged cliffs, which would block Perseverance’s progress, as well as sand-filled hollows, in which the rover could easily bog down. These features could also be a hazard for the helicopter, on landing.

Ingenuity will also help identify science targets for the rover and might be used to image geological features beyond Perseverance’s camera range or safe driving limits. The aircraft could also be used to survey landing sites for the planned Mars Sample Return mission. Additionally, following a series of software changes, the helicopter can now fly higher and change its airspeed, and will be used to gather more flight performance data, to aid the design of future Mars aircraft.

“The Jezero river delta campaign will be the biggest challenge the Ingenuity team faces since [the] first flight on Mars,” affirmed Nasa Jet Propulsion Laboratory Ingenuity team lead Teddy Tzanetos. “To enhance our chances of success, we have increased the size of our team and are making upgrades to our flight software geared toward improving operational flexibility and flight safety.”