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Science
Related: About this forumNASA's Mars helicopter took a photo, and it's a beauty
Image captured by NASA's Mars helicopter. Image source: NASA/JPL-Caltechn
By Mike Wehner @MikeWehner
April 26th, 2021 at 11:30 PM
NASAs Mars helicopter has now logged multiple flights on the Red Planet, claiming a number of firsts along the way. The aircraft is officially the first manmade vehicle to perform a powered flight on another planet. Its a huge accomplishment for NASA and, to a larger extent, humanity, but we hadnt yet seen Mars from the perspective of the helicopter itself. Now, in a new post on NASAs website, the space agency shares what the Ingenuity helicopter sees as it looks down on Mars from above, and its pretty awesome.
The image was captured by Ingenuity during its second successful test flight. That flight, which saw the aircraft reach a higher altitude than during its first attempt, was the first in which the helicopter actually traveled to a new location. The flight distance was a mere seven feet, but thats still a big step when testing the first-ever powered aircraft on Mars.
NASA offers a brief description of what were seeing:
The winding parallel discolorations in the surface reveal the tread of the six-wheeled rover. Perseverance itself is located top center, just out frame. Wright Brothers Field is in the vicinity of the helicopters shadow, bottom center, with the actual point of takeoff of the helicopter just below the image. A portion of the landing pads on two of the helicopters four landing legs can be seen in on the left and right sides of the image, and a small portion of the horizon can be seen at the upper right and left corners.
The Ingenuity helicopter is not equipped with any scientific instruments and has no scientific objectives. Its only mission is to be a proof of concept for future aerial vehicles on Mars, which means its handlers back on Earth will put it through a series of tests to see how well it handles itself during its month-long trial.
More:
https://bgr.com/science/mars-helicopter-photo-nasa-ingenuity-5921873/
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NASA's Mars helicopter took a photo, and it's a beauty (Original Post)
Judi Lynn
Apr 2021
OP
tblue37
(64,979 posts)1. Look at all the footprints!
Sneederbunk
(14,207 posts)2. Bigfoot?
tblue37
(64,979 posts)3. Nah. They were made by someone wearing dress shoes. Bigfoot wears trainers.
Last edited Tue Apr 27, 2021, 03:09 AM - Edit history (1)
Moostache
(9,895 posts)4. Its Jesus carrying the helicopter don'cha'no?!?!? (n/t)
tblue37
(64,979 posts)5. Does Jesus wear dress shoes? I thought he preferred sandals.
speak easy
(9,098 posts)6. Jesus ate locusts
and I can see a Martin grasshopper right here -
Marcuse
(7,392 posts)7. Image from Ingenuity's telephoto lens:
COL Mustard
(5,782 posts)8. Excellent!!!
tiptonic
(765 posts)9. Just wait
Just wait until the 'UFO ers', see this. Should be interesting.