NASA’s Perseverance rover has provided another glimpse of its pioneering robotic cousins.
passenger car size Perseverance recently took a picture Originality and ingenuity A helicopter as a 4-pound (1.8-kg) rotorcraft sits on the dunes of the Red Planet.
“#MarsHelicopter and I got close for the first time in a while. I think we spotted some people resting in the dunes between flights. Can you believe Ingenuity is gearing up for flight #39?” Patience force team said via Twitter (opens in new tab) On Wednesday (January 11th), in a post featuring pictures of the little chopper.
Related: Ingenuity Helicopter Flying Over Mars Rover Orbit (Video)
Ingenuity and perseverance landed together inside MarsJezero crater in February 2021. At 28 miles (45 kilometers) wide, Jezero long ago had a large lake and river delta. life on mars.
The six-wheeled robot collects and caches dozens of samples for future return to Earth.Over the past few weeks, patience has Cache some sample tubes in a “depot” In Jezero’s patch on the floor, which the mission team calls Three Forks.
Patience has accumulated so far 6 of 10 planned sample tubes (opens in new tab) The Three Forks Depot will serve as a backup should the rover not be healthy enough to deliver supplies to future NASA landers this decade. A rocket mounted on that lander will launch the sample into Mars orbit, where it will be retrieved by a European spacecraft and brought to Earth.Samples may land here 2033 at the earliest.
Depot samples are doubles. Perseverance is holding in your body a series of materials excavated from the same target rock. If necessary, two Ingenuity-like helicopters to be launched on the future lander will fly to Three Forks and grab the sample he tubes there one by one.
Ingenuity now acts as a scout for Perseverance, helping the rover team select the best routes through Jezero’s rugged terrain and identify promising outcrops for further study.
This work is part of Chopper’s expansion mission. Shortly after landing, Ingenuity successfully completed his first five flight campaigns, demonstrating that powered flight is possible even in thin areas. Mars atmosphere.
Ingenuity made its 39th flight to Mars on Wednesday, covering 459 feet (140 meters) of ground in nearly 79 seconds. So far, Chopper has flown a total of 25,690 feet (7,830 m) on Mars and stayed airborne for over 64 minutes, according to the company. Mission logbook (opens in new tab).
Perseverance has shot footage for Ingenuity before. For example, Rover took a photo shortly after Chopper was deployed on Jezero’s floor. Recorded video of Ingenuity’s 13th flightheld in September 2021.
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