Having completed more than 50 flights on Mars, NASA's Ingenuity helicopter continues to impress. On its 51st flight, which occurred on April 22, Ingenuity snapped a photo of its companion robot, the Perseverance rover, while hovering 40 feet (12 meters) above the Martian surface.
The photo shows the motionless Perseverance in the planet's red soil, almost indistinguishable from the large rocks scattered across the Red Planet's terrain. The image was shared on Twitter on April 24 by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), which also stated that the 51st flight lasted for just under 137 seconds and covered a total distance of 617 feet (188 m).
A full scale model of the experimental Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, which will be carried under the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover, is displayed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) on February 16, 2021 in Pasadena, California.
Monitoring Perseverance Rover's Progress
According to NASA's flight log for the Ingenuity helicopter, the chopper made a hop from Airfield Mu to Airfield Nu and captured a quick photo of some debris left over from the entry, descent, and landing sequence earlier in 2021.
Additionally, during this flight, Ingenuity captured an image of its companion robot, the Perseverance rover, which was stationary on the red Martian soil, almost blending in with the landscape's large rocks.
Just a few days prior, Perseverance took a photo of Ingenuity while it was in flight. Universe Today reports that the photo was taken after the helicopter completed its fiftieth flight, covering a distance of 322.2 meters in three minutes. In the photo, the dusty Ingenuity can be seen hovering at a height of 18 meters.
Currently, Perseverance is parked at a rock outcrop called "Echo Creek," where the team is conducting distance measurements and studying the rocks in the area.
The rocks appear brighter than the surrounding terrain and are fractured into polygon-shaped patterns, which are part of the team's study of the upper part of the Fan region in Jezero Crater. Nearby, there is a small hill called "Mount Julian," which the rover will explore in the near future.
Both crafts are situated on the edge of Belva Crater, which is a surface feature with a shallow depth-to-diameter ratio compared to other craters. The crater walls appear to have been broken down or breached at some point, leading to intriguing questions about its ancient past.
READ ALSO: NASA Mars Ingenuity Helicopter First Flight: How the Rotocraft Lifted Off Martian Atmosphere [WATCH]
Ingenuity Helicopter and Perseverance Rover's Ongoing Mission
Despite the playful appearance of the robots, Ingenuity and Perseverance represent a significant milestone in space exploration. As per an article in Cosmos Magazine, the two robots are exploring an ancient river delta on the edge of Jezero Crater, where NASA hopes to gain insight into the crater's formation, study Martian geology, and potentially find evidence of past life on the planet.
Jezero Crater is a fascinating region because water appears to have played a significant role in shaping its landforms. The crater formed from an impact event over 3.5 billion years ago, and river channels carried water into the crater, forming a lake and bringing clay minerals into the area. These events raise questions about the longevity of the water and whether it could have sustained microbial life.
The Mars helicopter, Ingenuity, was designed for a technology demonstration mission of up to five flights. However, it has exceeded expectations and now serves as a scout for Perseverance, which is collecting samples for future return to Earth and searching for evidence of past microbial life. Ingenuity's test of powered flight on another planet could aid in future sample return missions and the ongoing search for life on Mars.
RELATED ARTICLE: NASA's Ingenuity Helicopter Captures Its Mothership, the Perseverance Rover, in New Mars Footage
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