Ingenuity Mars helicopter's consecutive flights pave the way for 'solar conjunction'

NASA's Ingenuity Mars helicopter completed its 65th and 66th flights on the Red Planet, with short hops to prepare for the upcoming Mars solar conjunction. These flights positioned the helicopter for the two-week period when ground control will be paused due to radio signal interference caused by the sun blocking communication between Earth and Mars. The solar conjunction will last from November 11 to November 25, during which engineers will send two weeks' worth of instructions to the helicopter and wait. Ingenuity has successfully demonstrated powered flight on Mars and is now serving as a scout for NASA's Perseverance rover.