"NASA's Ingenuity Helicopter Achieves New Flight Records and Captures Mars Wreckage Images"

NASA's Ingenuity Mars helicopter, initially expected to perform just five flights, has completed its 70th flight, influencing the design of future Mars missions. Lessons learned from Ingenuity's extended mission are being applied to the Mars Sample Return (MSR) project, which will now include two helicopters for sample retrieval. These helicopters will serve as a backup to transport samples to a lander if the Perseverance rover is unable to do so. NASA is also reviewing the overall MSR architecture due to concerns about meeting the schedule and budget, with a revised plan expected by March. Meanwhile, budget constraints are causing NASA to proceed cautiously with funding at 2023 levels under a continuing resolution.