NASA's Mars helicopter Ingenuity to attempt new flight on Mars

The new flight, the 63th on the Red Planet, is scheduled no earlier than Oct 19.

The helicopter is expected to fly about 574 meters for 137 seconds to reposition itself in a new airfield, according to NASA.

Taking to twitter NASA JPL said: "The #MarsHelicopter is targeting Flight 63 no earlier than Oct. 19. It's expected to fly about 1,883 ft (573.93 m) for 137 seconds to reposition itself in a new airfield."

Until now, the helicopter has completed 62 flights on Mars for a total time of 113 minutes, and a total distance of 13.9 kilometers, according to NASA data.

The helicopter arrived at Mars' Jezero Crater on Feb. 18, 2021, attached to the belly of NASA's Perseverance rover. It is a technology demonstration to test powered flight on another planet for the first time.

The helicopter was designed to fly for up to 90 seconds, to distances of almost 300 meters at a time and about 3 to 4.5 meters from the ground, according to NASA.

(With UNI/Xinhua inputs)