NASA’s experimental Mars helicopter has risen over the red planet a second time.
The machine has completed a brief tour over the planet’s dusty surface at an altitude of about five metres.
#MarsHelicopter Flight #2 is in the books! I’ve captured its higher, bolder flight, and I’ll be sending back all my latest frames soon. Meanwhile, here’s a quick preview, including takeoff and two turns. pic.twitter.com/MmNOuIQ8ly
— NASA’s Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) April 22, 2021
NASA plans several more test flights for the helicopter before the rover gets on with its main mission, which is collecting rock samples for return to Earth.
Meanwhile, NASA says its Perseverance rover successfully made oxygen on Mars, by converting the carbon dioxide that’s readily available in the red planet’s atmosphere.
The rover made enough oxygen to sustain an astronaut for about ten minutes.
The experiment was the first test of Perseverance’s MOXIE instrument.
