CBS News: “In its third-ever attempt at leaving the surface of Mars, NASA’s tiny test helicopter traveled farther and faster than it ever has before – even in testing on Earth. The historic moment came just days after its second journey. The Ingenuity helicopter broke several records on Sunday morning, rising 16 feet into the air before flying about 164 feet, just over half the length of a football field, at a top speed of about 4.5 miles per hour – up from about 1.1 miles per hour during previous flights last week. ‘While that number may not seem like a lot, consider that we never moved laterally more than about two-pencil lengths when we flight-tested in the vacuum chamber here on Earth,'”
“Håvard Grip, Ingenuity Mars helicopter chief pilot at JPL, said ahead of the historic flight. He said the helicopter is finally able to ‘experience freedom in the sky.’ NASA said the Ingenuity team at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory was ‘ecstatic to see the helicopter soaring out of view.’ ‘Today’s flight was what we planned for, and yet it was nothing short of amazing,’ Dave Lavery, the project’s program executive, said in a statement. ‘With this flight, we are demonstrating critical capabilities that will enable the addition of an aerial dimension to future Mars missions.'”