The Wit Mars Helicopter, which first flew on April 19, 2021, is now in its first year of service on Mars, where it was originally scheduled to serve only 30 days. This achievement shows the potential for using mature commercial components in space missions. The Wit is mainly used for technology demonstrations, using commercial components extensively, including Qualcomm’s 2.26 GHz quad-core processor Snapdragon 801, Texas Instruments’ TMS570LC43x, Sony’s lithium-ion battery, and running the Linux operating system. According to NASA records , since its successful maiden flight in April last year, Wit has flown a total of 6,184 meters, with a total flight time of about 49.2 minutes. The highest flight altitude is 12 meters, and the fastest ground speed is 5.5 meters per second. Because of the good performance, NASA extended its mission to September of this year, with Wit as a terrain-reconnaissance rover to find the way for the Perseverance rover.
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