Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Achieves 50th Milestone Flight

NASA's Ingenuity helicopter has completed its 50th flight on Mars, surpassing its original rating of just five sorties. The 4-pound drone is serving as a scout for NASA's Perseverance rover mission and testing key tech that could help return samples from the Red Planet in the coming years as part of the ongoing search for life on Mars. The focus is shifting to refining operations, teamwork, and design decisions as NASA works to develop two Martian helicopters for its Red Planet sample-return effort.