Ingenuity was supposed to fly 5 times. it flew 72.

How I got here

Started with

How does a helicopter fly on Mars?

Ended at

Jezero (crater)

The Trail

1. “ingenuity helicopter how many flights” (google.com)
2. Ingenuity (helicopter) (en.wikipedia.org)
3. Perseverance (rover) (en.wikipedia.org)
4. Atmosphere of Mars (en.wikipedia.org)
5. Jezero (crater) (en.wikipedia.org)

What I came away with

The air at the surface is about 1% as dense as Earth's, so the blades spun at roughly 2,400 rpm. A five-flight tech demo ended up doing 72 flights over almost three years before a damaged blade grounded it in January 2024.

Keep going

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