Ingenuity Spots Rocks During Ninth Flight

• Click the image above for a larger view
• Full-Res JPEG (4208 x 3120) (1.7 MB)
• Full-Res TIFF (4208 x 3120) (33.1 MB)

Caption:

NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter flew over these sand dunes and rocks during its ninth flight, on July 5, 2021, the 133rd Martian day, or sol, of the mission. This sand is too risky for NASA's Perseverance Mars rover to visit (it could get stuck), but scientists are still able to learn about this region by studying it from Ingenuity's images. A portion of the helicopter's landing gear can be seen at top left, and its shadow is visible bottom center.

Background Info:

A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology , including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust).

Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis.

The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet.

JPL, which is managed for NASA by Caltech in Pasadena, California, built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover.

The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter was built by JPL, which also manages the technology demonstration project for NASA Headquarters. It is supported by NASA's Science, Aeronautics Research, and Space Technology mission directorates. NASA's Ames Research Center in California's Silicon Valley, and NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, provided significant flight performance analysis and technical assistance during Ingenuity's development. AeroVironment Inc., Qualcomm, and SolAero also provided design assistance and major vehicle components. Lockheed Martin Space designed and manufactured the Mars Helicopter Delivery System .

Cataloging Keywords: