Mars helicopter Ingenuity flies for 17th time on Red Planet

NASA’s Mars helicopter Ingenuity soared through the Red Planet skies for the 17th time last weekend, but we’ll have to wait a little longer yet to get a full accounting of the flight.

The 4-pound (1.8 kilograms) chopper appeared to hit all of its marks during the 614-foot-long (187 meters) traverse, which occurred on Dec. 5. But the communication link between Ingenuity and its robotic partner, NASA’s Mars rover Perseverance, was disrupted during the helicopter’s descent, mission team members said. (All of Ingenuity’s data and photos are relayed first to the Perseverance rover, and then to Earth through a Mars orbiter.)