Among the missions being planned is a huge helicopter drone to explore Saturn’s moon Titan.
Perseverance took a selfie next to its biggest accomplishment yet – the two small drill holes where the rover took samples of Martian rocks.
NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Perseverance and its helicopter sidekick, Ingenuity, have been on Mars for nearly nine months. The duo have taken rock samples, performed first flights and taken images of the delta in Jezero Crater.
NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter on its first flight, captured by cameras aboard NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover on April 19, 2021.
(NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU)
The Ingenuity is a drone-like helicopter that completed its first flight on Mars. This achievement reflects a new horizon for space exploration, as new places are discovered and studied.
Flying the Ingenuity helicopter on Mars is the equivalent of flying one at about 100,000 feet on Earth. Tricky, considering the highest helicopter flight ever recorded maxed out at 42,000 feet.
NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter hovers over the Martian surface.
NASA
The maiden flight of Mars helicopter was a significant advance in propulsion technology.
In a clean room at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., engineers observed the first driving test for the Mars rover, Perseverance. Perseverance will search for signs of past microbial life, characterize Mars’ climate and geology, and collect samples for a future return to Earth.
NASA/JPL-Caltech