WHAT AN AMAZING VIEW!
Piece of Home
The remains of the
parachute and back shell that allowed NASA's Mars helicopter Ingenuity and the
much larger Perseverance rover to touch down on the surface of the Red Planet
over a year ago have been discovered.
Images acquired by
the rover's mast cam earlier this month revealed views of the parachute's
wreckage from a distance of about half a mile.
Thanks to
Perseverance's much smaller and lighter helicopter companion's airborne skills,
we now have a considerably closer and detailed image of the backshell that
protected it during its descent through the Martian atmosphere, as well as the
lost parachute further in the distance.
"The Mars
helicopter flew over Perseverance's parachute and rear shell," tweeted Ars
Technica senior space writer Eric Berger, "and I have to say, flying on
another world is incredible."
how it started how it ended pic.twitter.com/suj14iEI8M
— Kevin M. Gill (@kevinmgill) April 27, 2022
Victory Lap
Perseverance and
Ingenuity have spent several weeks backtracking on their voyage south of the
Jezero Crater, an area thought to be an old lake bed, as visible on NASA's
helpful live map.
According to anApril 5 update, Ingenuity encountered "an extra obstacle" on its
latest and 26th flight: the "presence of hardware from Perseverance's
entry, descent, and landing (EDL), including the sky crane, parachutes, and
backshell."
Ingenuity has
outperformed all expectations, completing considerably more flights than the
original five planned. As a result, it's only natural for it to return to the
spot where it landed to finish its victory lap.
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