The helicopter, like the predecessor of many Martian vehicles, has far exceeded its original mission goal and has now conducted 26 test flights in the rare atmosphere of Mars. This time, however, he also took in-flight recordings showing the means to reach his own surface, reported by NASA.
The Perseverance rover reached the surface of Mars through the best documented landing, as his cameras showed every moment of the process from the opening of his parachute to his arrival. However, Ingenuity’s recordings show the elements of the landing from a different perspective, and they also help engineers planning the landing evaluate the success of the landing, and also contribute to the planning of the mission to bring the Mars rock samples home.
One aerial shot of landing aids. Source: NASA / JPL-Caltech –
In the image, the light-colored, round object is the rear shield (surrounded by fragments of it) that slammed into the surface at a speed of 126 kilometers per hour after detachment, but the protective paint layer remains intact as the landing unit ran through the Martian atmosphere. Also visible is a number of the 80 very strong cords that connected the 21.5-meter-diameter brake shield to the rear shield. The parachute itself is lying on the ground and does not show any damage it would have suffered during the landing supersonic maneuver. The details of all this will be analyzed by experts for weeks. Ingenuity, or as it is called, the 26th flight of Ginny (Genie) took place on April 19, 2022, at an altitude of 8 meters, at a distance of 192 meters, captured the pieces of the landing unit in 10 color photographs and then returned to its starting point. With that, the small helicopter had already flown a total of 6.2 kilometers, spending 49 minutes in the rare Martian air. Another point of view Source: NASA / JPL-Caltech –
It is not yet known how long the solar-powered helicopter will be able to continue its flights, as it had been in the company of Perseverance on flat, relatively simple terrain, where it was easy to find landing and take-off land, but now they have reached a much more articulated, rocky region. The area of the Jezero Crater, home to a former estuary, will be a scientific goldmine for Perseverance, but the terrain could easily be tested by Ginny. There are no gauges on board the Ginny, but she took with her a small piece of canvas covering the wings of the Wright brothers ’first plane, which rises into the extremely rare atmosphere of Mars each time they fly. – 
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