NASA’s Ingenuity Mars helicopter recently tested both the parachute that helped the service’s Perseverance rover land on Mars and the tapered rear shell that protected the rover in deep space and its fiery descent to the surface of Mars on February 18, 2021. Engineers with Mars Sample Return asked if Ingenuity could offer that perspective. The result was 10 aerial color images taken on April 19 during Ingenuity Flight 26. “NASA has expanded Ingenuity flight operations to launch groundbreaking flights like this,” said Teddy Tzanetos, head of the Ingenuity team at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. “Every time we are in the air, Ingenuity covers new territory and offers a perspective that no previous planetary mission could achieve. The Mars Sample Return recognition request is a perfect example of the usefulness of aerial platforms on Mars. This image of Perseverance’s rear shell and supersonic parachute was captured by NASA’s Ingenuity Mars helicopter during its 26th flight to Mars on April 19, 2022. Credits: NASA / JPL-Caltech Entering, landing and landing on Mars is fast and stressful, not only for engineers returning to Earth, but also for the vehicle that withstands gravity, high temperatures and other extreme points that come with entering the atmosphere. of Mars at almost 12,500 mph (20,000 km / h). The parachute and rear shell had previously been photographed from a distance by the Perseverance rover. But what is collected from the rotor (from an aerial perspective and closer) provides more detail. The images have the potential to help secure safer landings for future spacecraft, such as the Mars Sample Return Lander, which is part of a multi-mission campaign that will bring Perseverance samples from Mars rocks, atmosphere and sediments back to Earth. for detailed analysis. “Perseverance had the best-documented landing on Mars in history, with cameras showing everything from parachute inflation to touchdown,” said IP Clark of JPL, a former Perseverance systems engineer and now head of the Mars Sample Return ascent phase. . “But Ingenuity images offer a different advantage. Whether they either reinforce that our systems worked as we think they did or even provide a set of mechanical information data that we can use to design a Mars sample return would be amazing. And if not, the photos are still amazing and inspiring. “ Perseverance rear shell, supersonic parachute and related debris field are scattered on the surface of Mars in this image taken by NASA’s Ingenuity Mars helicopter on its 26th flight on April 19, 2022. Credits: NASA / JPL-Cal In the images of the upright rear shell and the debris field resulting from its impact with the surface at a speed of approximately 78 mph (126 kph), the protective coating of the rear shell appears to have remained intact as it entered atmospheric Mars. Many of the 80 high-strength suspension lines connecting the rear shell to the parachute are visible and also look intact. Spread out and covered in dust, only about a third of the orange-white parachute – 21.5 meters wide – was the largest ever developed on Mars – can be seen, but the canopy shows no signs of damage from ultrasonic airflow during the bloating. It will take several weeks of analysis for a more final verdict.

Flight maneuvers 26

Ingenuity’s 159-second flight began at 11:37 a.m. local time Mars, April 19, the one-year anniversary of its first flight. Flying 26 feet (8 meters) above ground level, Ingenuity traveled 630 feet (192 meters) to the southeast and took its first photo. The rotor then headed southwest and then northwest, capturing images at pre-planned locations along the route. After collecting 10 images in its flash memory, Ingenuity headed 246 feet (75 meters) west and landed. Total distance traveled: 1,181 feet (360 meters). With the completion of Flight 26, the rotating vessel has reached over 49 minutes and has traveled 3.9 miles (6.2 kilometers). This image of the Perseverance rear shell and parachute was taken by NASA’s Ingenuity Mars helicopter during its 26th flight on April 19, 2022. Credits: NASA / JPL-Caltech “Ingenuity did a lot of maneuvering to get the shots we needed, but we were sure because there were complicated maneuvers on flights 10, 12 and 13,” said Håvard Grip, Ingenuity chief pilot at JPL. Our landing site was beautifully designed to depict an area of ​​interest for the Perseverance Science Team on Flight 27 near the Séítah Ridge. The new area of ​​operations in the dry delta of the Jezero Crater marks a dramatic departure from the mediocre, relatively flat ground that Ingenuity has flown since its first flight. Several miles wide, the fan-shaped delta formed where an ancient river flowed into the lake that once filled the Jezero Crater. Rising more than 130 feet (40 meters) above the crater floor and filled with jagged rocks, corner surfaces, protruding boulders and pockets full of sand, the delta promises to have many geological discoveries – perhaps even proof that there was tiny life in billions of years ago. Once in the delta, Ingenuity’s first commands may be to help determine which of the two dry river canals Perseverance will have to climb to reach the top of the delta. Together with the help of route planning, the data provided by the helicopter will help the Perseverance team to evaluate possible scientific objectives. Inventiveness can even be called upon to depict geological features too far away for the rover to reach or detect landing zones and locations on the surface where hidden sample caches could be stored for the Mars Sample Return program.

More on Ingenuity

The Ingenuity Mars helicopter was built by JPL, which also manages the project for NASA headquarters. Supported by NASA Science Mission. NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, California, and NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, provided significant flight performance analysis and technical assistance in developing Ingenuity. AeroVironment Inc., Qualcomm and SolAero also provided design assistance and major vehicle parts. Lockheed Space designed and built the Mars helicopter delivery system. At NASA headquarters, Dave Lavery is the executive director of the Ingenuity Mars helicopter program. More on persistence A key goal of Perseverance’s mission to Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will feature the planet’s geology and climate past, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet and be the first mission to collect and store Martian rocks and regoliths (broken rocks and dust). Subsequent NASA missions, in collaboration 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 exploration approach from the Moon to Mars, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon to help prepare for the human exploration of the Red Planet. JPL, which is managed for NASA by Caltech in Pasadena, California, has built and operated the Perseverance rover.