NASA's Mars helicopter Ingenuity notches 18th flight

The helicopter is moving back toward the rover Perseverance's original landing site as the rover and helicopter prepare to move in another direction.

"The #MarsHelicopter keeps going, going, going!" NASA posted on Twitter late Friday, after the agency confirmed data transmissions from the aircraft's flight two days earlier.

The 18th flight also builds on the Ingenuity's track record for flying in the relatively warmer air of the summer season where it is situated, in Jezero Crater, which is in Mars' northern hemisphere.

Ingenuity's total flight time on Mars has exceeded 32 minutes.

The tiny helicopter was designed to fly only a few minutes over 30 days as a technology demonstration, but has passed eight months in operation.

NASA had lost radio contact -- except for very brief transmissions -- after Ingenuity's Flight 17 on Dec. 5. Hills between the helicopter and the Perseverance rover blocked the link.

But the Mars helicopter's team said in a press release that it was able to downlink more data Dec. 10.

NASA has said the helicopter is in excellent condition. Following the radio interruption, engineers altered the helicopter's communication link to operate in a safe mode during flight, meaning it won't relay as much data, but the signal is stronger.