NASA’s Incredible Search for Martian Life
Martian “Ingenuity” Helicopter Blade Broken
“Perserverance” Rover Camera Sees Martian Dust Bowl
Quotes & Photos from official NASA source. 1/29/2024
“NASA’s history-making Ingenuity Mars Helicopter has ended its mission at the Red Planet after surpassing expectations and making dozens more flights than planned. While the helicopter remains upright and in communication with ground controllers, imagery of its Jan. 18 flight sent to Earth this week indicates one or more of its rotor blades sustained damage during landing and it is no longer capable of flight.” *
“Ingenuity’s View of Sand Ripples During Flight 70: NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter captured this view of sand ripples during its 70th flight, on Dec. 22, 2023. The smooth, relatively featureless terrain proved difficult for the helicopter’s navigation system to track during Flight 72, on Jan. 18, 2024, resulting in a rough landing. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech.”
https://mars.nasa.gov/resources/26784/perseverance-views-wind-lifting-a-massive-dust-cloud/
Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI
June 01, 2022
“This series of images from a navigation camera aboard NASA’s Perseverance rover shows a gust of wind sweeping dust across the Martian plain beyond the rover’s tracks on June 18, 2021 (the 117th sol, or Martian day, of the mission). The dust cloud in this GIF was estimated to be about 1.5 square miles (4 square kilometers) in size; it was the first such Martian wind-lifted dust cloud of this scale ever captured in images.
“This image has been enhanced in order to show maximal detail, with some color distortion.
“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).”
Other Mars News:
https://mars.nasa.gov/news/?page=0&per_page=40&order=publish_date+desc%2Ccreated_at+desc&search=&category=19%2C165%2C184%2C204&blank_scope=Latest
Ref.:
* After Three Years on Mars, NASA’s Ingenuity Helicopter Mission Ends, by NASA
https://mars.nasa.gov/news/9540/after-three-years-on-mars-nasas-ingenuity-helicopter-mission-ends/
https://mars.nasa.gov/resources/27901/ingenuitys-view-of-sand-dunes-during-flight-70/
Image 1: See the linked image:
https://mars.nasa.gov/news/9540/after-three-years-on-mars-nasas-ingenuity-helicopter-mission-ends/
Image 1 shows “Perseverance Checks Out Ingenuity: NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter is seen Aug. 2, 2023, in an enhanced-color image captured by the Mastcam-Z instrument aboard the agency’s Perseverance Mars rover. Credits: JPL/Caltech-ASU/MSSS.”
