After the huge success of the Ingenuity Mars helicopter, NASA has already started working on bigger and better Mars helicopters. Next in line is the “Mars Science Helicopter,” a six-rotor aircraft concept that is currently in the works by the Ingenuity team, report Space.com.

Although the aircraft is yet to be made official by the space agency, the engineers say they want the hexacopter to be able to ascend for miles, hinting at a new era of aerial exploration on Martian soil.

New choppers to be more efficient

 “We can get to locations that rovers can’t access, like cliffside walls or difficult-to-traverse terrains, or even down into caves,” Ingenuity operations lead Theodore Tzanetos told Space.com.

As NASA continues to work on the future helicopter, we shouldn’t forget what the current Ingenuity Mars helicopter has achieved. The tiny chopper has already completed 9 flights, with every flight being the hardest. It has gathered important data that would help the space agency while building a more efficient chopper.

Ingenuity paved the way for future

“Ingenuity is a technology demonstrator,” Tzanetos told Space.com. “Our core goal, our prime directive, is to prove that we can fly on Mars… to have that Wright Brothers moment for the first time and hopefully blow the doors open for the future exploration capabilities on the Red Planet.”

With the last flight, it shattered its own records, as confirmed by NASA’s JPL. During the ninth flight, Ingenuity was airborne for 166.4 seconds, beating the previous record of 139.9 seconds that was achieved during its 6th flight performed on May 23.

The 4-pound, 19-inch-high chopper also covered a distance of 625 m, bettering its previous record of 266 m made during the 4th flight. It reached a speed of 5 m/s, which was also faster than what it has been flying. In the upcoming flights, Ingenuity will work in tandem with its rover partner Perseverance on Mars and help it with further research.