Space - Ingenuity`s 4. flyging var en suksess - NASA

 CNN)After four successful flights on Mars, the Ingenuity helicopter is graduating to a new phase of its mission and will fly for at least another month on the red planet.

The little 4-pound chopper has achieved all of its objectives -- and now it will chase after new ones. This also means the Perseverance rover and its aerial sidekick get to spend more time together working on a joint mission.

"Ingenuity is going to transition from a technology demonstration, where we prove the technical capabilities of the helicopter, to an operations demonstration where we're going to gather information on the operational support capability of the helicopter while Perseverance focuses on its science mission," said Lori Glaze, director of NASA's Planetary Science Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington, during a press conference Friday.

The helicopter has exceeded expectations, which drove the decision to further its mission and test out capabilities. This will allow Ingenuity to demonstrate flight operations that could benefit the future exploration of Mars.

"Our team has been extremely happy and proud of the Ingenuity flights to date, and now it's like Ingenuity is graduating from the tech demo phase to the new ops demo phase where we can show how a rotorcraft can be used and ensure products that only an aerial platform from an aerial dimension can give," said MiMi Aung, Ingenuity project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, during the press conference.

Fourth flight findings

Ingenuity was supposed to lift off Thursday, but data showed that the helicopter did not transition to flight mode, so the fourth flight was rescheduled for Friday.

The helicopter's computer includes a watchdog timer that expires and prevents flight if it senses any hindrances. However, there is a known issue regarding a 15% chance that this timer could expire each time the helicopter attempts a flight. The time-out does not prevent future flights, but it did lead to a postponement of Ingenuity's initial flight and the fourth flight, the team said.

As members of the helicopter team target more flights, they may deploy a fix to the software "so we don't have to play this dice game every time we try to fly," said Bob Balaram, Ingenuity chief engineer at JPL.

Another attempt of the fourth flight occurred Friday at 10:49 a.m. ET, or 12:33 p.m. local Mars time.

Spot the Perseverance rover in this new Mars helicopter photo

The first flight data came in to the JPL control room at 1:39 p.m. ET.

Ingenuity ascended to its usual altitude of 16 feet (5 meters) and then flew south for 436 feet (133 meters). It passed over rocks, small impact craters and sand ripples and used its black-and-white navigation camera to capture images of this intriguing landscape every 4 feet (1.2 meters).

The helicopter increased its max airspeed to 8 miles per hour (3.6 meters per second).

Ingenuity traveled for an 872-foot (266-meter) round trip and remained in the air for 117 seconds, which was "another set of records for the helicopter, even compared to the spectacular third flight," Aung wrote in an update.

The Perseverance rover acquired this image of Ingenuity 

during its fourth flight on April 30. It's the airborne dot in the distance.

The Perseverance rover also captured images and video of Ingenuity's flight -- including sound for the first time.

During the flight, the helicopter's cameras captured views that provide "an aerial perspective of Mars that humanity has never seen before," Aung wrote.

The images taken by the chopper and the rover will be shared as the team has a chance to process them in the coming days.