Mars Has Beautiful Deserts Like On Earth, Here's What It Looks Like!
JAKARTA - NASA's reliable helicopter, Ingenuity will soon launch into the newest research site on the Red Planet. However, he must first pass through a very dangerous field.
Ingenuity is currently heading to the dry river delta at Jezero Crater, Planet Mars. It's an area of land filled with jagged cliffs, sloping surfaces, large protruding boulders, and pockets of sand that can stop explorers in their tracks. It can even overturn the helicopter when it lands.
During at least three flights, Ingenuity will traverse a stretch of desert dubbed Séítah. However, Ingenuity doesn't just fly above its height. He had to take pictures during this trip.
Therefore, NASA released this image of Ingenuity traveling across this terrain, captured from the air using the helicopter's high-resolution color camera.
Seen in the image, it shows windswept sand in the foreground, and hilly areas, even mountains beyond. The shadow of the helicopter is also visible at the bottom of the frame, and a glimpse of the ball-like tip of one of its legs in the upper left side of the image.
The Ingenuity helicopter is an experimental robot, which far exceeds the expectations of engineers. NASA hopes to prove it flew something on Mars.
By now, the helicopter has flown more than 21 times, and its next trip is expected to be around 1,150 feet while avoiding hills.
"This upcoming flight will be my 22nd entry in our logbook. I remember thinking when all this started we would be lucky to have three entries and very lucky to get five. Now, at the pace we are going, I will need a second book. ," said Ingenuity's Chief Pilot Håvard Grip in his official statement quoted from Mashable, Monday, March 21.
The helicopter will soon accompany land-based robotic explorer Perseverance on a journey through a dry river delta, a place scientists suspect was once filled with water. The mission is looking for evidence that primitive microscopic organisms once lived in the humid environment of Mars.