NASA’s new Mars rover used a camera at the end of the robotic arm to make that shot of itself with the Ingenuity helicopter nearby.
NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover took a selfie with the Ingenuity helicopter, seen here about 4 meters away in this image from April 6, 2021, the 46th Martian day, or sun, of the mission. Perseverance captured the image using a camera called WATSON (Wide Angle Topographic Sensor for Operations and eNgineering), which is part of the SHERLOC (Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman and Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals) instrument, located at the end of the robotic arm. of the rover.
The Perseverance selfie with Ingenuity came together from 62 individual images taken while the rover was looking at the helicopter and again while looking at WATSON’s camera. Here you can find videos that explain how NASA’s Perseverance and Curiosity rovers take their photos.
Once the team is ready to attempt the first flight, Perseverance will receive and transmit to Ingenuity the final flight instructions from the JPL mission controllers. Several factors will determine the precise flight time, including the modeling of local wind patterns reported by measurements made by the MEDA (Mars Environmental Dynamics Analyzer) instrument aboard Perseverance. The engine will run its rotors at 2,537 rpm and, if all the final self-checks look good, they will lift. After climbing at a speed of about 3 feet per second (1 meter per second), the helicopter will be positioned 3 feet above the surface for up to 30 seconds. Then the ingenuity will descend and retreat to the Martian surface.
A few hours after the first flight took place, Perseverance will link the first set of engineering data from Ingenenuity and possibly the images and video from the rover and Mastcam-Z navigation cameras, a couple of zoomable cameras. From the linked data the first evening after the flight, the Ingenuity team hopes to be able to determine if their first attempt to fly to Mars was a success. The Ingenuity team will discuss the results of the flight tests at a press conference that same day.
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory built and managed operations of perseverance and ingenuity for the agency. Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages JPL for NASA. WATSON was built by Malin Space Science Systems (MSSS) in San Diego, and is operated jointly by MSSS and JPL.
The Mars Helicopter Technology Demonstration Activity is supported by the NASA Science Mission Directorate, the Aeronautical Research Mission Directorate, and the Space Technology Mission Directorate.
A key goal for Perseverance’s mission to Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet’s past geology and climate, pave the way for human exploration of the red planet, and be the first mission to collect and hide rock and Martian 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 approach to exploring the Moon to Mars, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare you for human exploration of the red planet.
For more information on perseverance:
mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/
For more information on wit:
go.nasa.gov/ingenuity
News media contacts
Andrew Good
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California.
818-393-2433
[email protected]
Karen Fox / Alana Johnson
NASA Headquarters, Washington
301-286-6284 / 202-358-1501
[email protected] / [email protected]