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As the American space agency NASA continues to carry out tests of its Ingenuity helicopter on Mars, it is also testing a future aircraft design on Earth.

美国宇航局美国宇航局继续在火星上对其“聪明号”直升机进行测试，同时也在地球上测试未来的飞机设计。

NASA’s Ingenuity has been making test flights on the Red Planet for the past two-and-a-half years. The experimental helicopter arrived on Mars along with NASA’s Perseverance explorer, or rover, in February 2021.

过去两年半以来，美国宇航局的“独创”号一直在这颗红色星球上进行试飞。 这架实验直升机于 2021 年 2 月与 NASA 的毅力号探测器或漫游者一起抵达火星。

Both the rover and helicopter have been collecting images and data as they explore an area known as Jezero Crater. The goal of the exploration effort is to search for signs of ancient life on Mars.

火星车和直升机在探索一个名为杰泽罗陨石坑的区域时一直在收集图像和数据。 探索工作的目标是寻找火星上古代生命的迹象。

Ingenuity made history in April 2021 by becoming the first aircraft to complete a powered, controlled flight on another planet. NASA officials have said the helicopter has performed far above expectations. Agency engineers planned on Ingenuity completing just five experimental flights on Mars. But the helicopter has so far performed 66 flights. It has provided NASA with valuable data on building future aircraft to fly in space.

Ingenuity 于 2021 年 4 月创造了历史，成为第一架在另一个星球上完成动力、受控飞行的飞机。 美国宇航局官员表示，这架直升机的表现远远超出了预期。 该机构的工程师计划“独创”号在火星上仅完成五次实验飞行。 但这架直升机迄今为止已执行了66次飞行。 它为美国宇航局提供了有关建造未来太空飞行飞机的宝贵数据。

Travis Brown is Ingenuity’s chief engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California. He said in a statement that with nearly every flight, the helicopter has progressed in new ways. Brown noted that over the past nine months, Ingenuity had doubled its top speed and height records. In addition, the aircraft’s operating speed and landings improved.

特拉维斯·布朗 (Travis Brown) 是位于加州 NASA 喷气推进实验室 (JPL) 的 Ingenuity 首席工程师。 他在一份声明中表示，几乎每次飞行，直升机都以新的方式取得进展。 布朗指出，在过去的九个月里，独创号将其最高速度和高度记录翻了一番。 此外，飞机的运行速度和着陆次数也有所提高。

Most Ingenuity flights only last two to three minutes. This is because the helicopter has energy and temperature limitations.

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