And now for something completely different...
During its 26th flight, the Ingenuity #MarsHelicopter—the first powered aircraft to fly on another world—spotted gear used by the Perseverance rover to survive its descent to the Martian surface. We've seen similar sights like this from orbit thanks to the HiRise camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, but this is the first time we've been able to survey the scene up close, and it can teach us a lot about the forces of landing on Mars.
In surveying both the parachute that helped Perseverance land on Mars and the cone-shaped backshell that protected the rover in deep space and during its fiery descent toward the surface of the planet, Ingenuity may provide valuable information that could benefit future landings on Mars.
Many of the 80 high-strength suspension lines connecting the backshell to the parachute are visible and appear intact. Spread out and covered in dust, only about a third of the orange-and-white parachute can be seen, but the canopy shows no signs of damage from the supersonic airflow experienced during its inflation. Look closely to spot the shadow cast by Ingenuity while it took the images.
Several weeks of analysis will be needed before a more final verdict can be issued on whether all of the landing support systems functioned as designed—but the results are sure to help guide the future of Martian landings.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
#NASA#Mars#RedPlanet#Martian#Perseverance#Ingenuity#Rover#SolarSystem#Planets#Parachute#Helicopter