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Description
Ingenuity has freed itself from the mega-ripple, but is not yet out of the danger zone

Ingenuity lifted off on Mars for the 65th time on November 2, 2023.

The helicopter flew very carefully at a maximum speed of just 1 meter per second, covered a distance of 7 meters and stayed aloft for 48 seconds.

The maximum flight altitude was 10 meters.

The image was taken with the RTE (Return To Earth) color camera and afterwards processed to obtain a view in more natural colors (raw image: shorturl.at/jzFLT ).
It can be seen that Ingenuity has now landed on the edge of the mega-ripples - a somewhat strange flight plan, especially as the helicopter is still in the danger zone.
The planned "hop" of 0.5 meters to the south (planned as part of the 66th flight) also does not change the ground conditions.

One possible explanation is that the Ingenuity team is looking for a location on the floor that has an inclination.
A location with an inclination helps Ingenuity's solar cells to receive more sunlight, which is not only useful for the upcoming solar conjunction, but may also enable a better communication signal.

During the 64th flight, Ingenuity had attempted to land at the lowest point, the base of a mega-ripple, but was blown westwards by the wind on landing.

Maybe there is a strange kind of ground effect with these "dunes" around the helicopter.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Henning Tritschler

Description
Ingenuity has freed itself from the mega-ripple, but is not yet out of the danger zone

Ingenuity lifted off on Mars for the 65th time on November 2, 2023.

The helicopter flew very carefully at a maximum speed of just 1 meter per second, covered a distance of 7 meters and stayed aloft for 48 seconds.

The maximum flight altitude was 10 meters.

The image was taken with the RTE (Return To Earth) color camera and afterwards processed to obtain a view in more natural colors (raw image: shorturl.at/jzFLT ).
It can be seen that Ingenuity has now landed on the edge of the mega-ripples - a somewhat strange flight plan, especially as the helicopter is still in the danger zone.
The planned "hop" of 0.5 meters to the south (planned as part of the 66th flight) also does not change the ground conditions.

One possible explanation is that the Ingenuity team is looking for a location on the floor that has an inclination.
A location with an inclination helps Ingenuity's solar cells to receive more sunlight, which is not only useful for the upcoming solar conjunction, but may also enable a better communication signal.

During the 64th flight, Ingenuity had attempted to land at the lowest point, the base of a mega-ripple, but was blown westwards by the wind on landing.

Maybe there is a strange kind of ground effect with these "dunes" around the helicopter.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Henning Tritschler