Mars 2020, Perseverance rover and the Ingenuity helicopter drone, NASA, USA


Watch NASA’s Perseverance Rover land on Mars!

Streamed live Feb 18, 2021

Watch an epic journey unfold on Thursday, Feb. 18 as our Perseverance rover lands on Mars. To reach the surface of the Red Planet, the rover has to survive the harrowing final phase known as Entry, Descent, and Landing.

Only then can the rover – the biggest, heaviest, cleanest, and most sophisticated six-wheeled robot ever launched into space – search Jezero Crater for signs of ancient life and collect samples that will eventually be returned to Earth.

Tune in to a live video feed of key landing activities and commentary from Mission Control at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
 

NASA's Perseverance Rover lands successfully on Mars (Highlight reel)

Feb 19, 2021

After a seven-month-long journey, NASA’s Perseverance Rover successfully touched down on the Red Planet on Feb. 18, 2021. Mission controllers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California celebrate landing NASA's fifth -- and most ambitious -- rover on Mars.

A key objective for Perseverance’s mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet’s geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith.

Also flying with Perseverance is NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter, which will attempt to show controlled, powered flight is possible in the very thin Martian atmosphere.
 

Perseverance Rover’s descent and touchdown on Mars (official NASA video)

Feb 22, 2021

NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance mission captured thrilling footage of its rover landing in Mars' Jezero Crater on Feb. 18, 2021. The real footage in this video was captured by several cameras that are part of the rover's entry, descent, and landing suite. The views include a camera looking down from the spacecraft's descent stage (a kind of rocket-powered jet pack that helps fly the rover to its landing site), a camera on the rover looking up at the descent stage, a camera on the top of the aeroshell (a capsule protecting the rover) looking up at that parachute, and a camera on the bottom of the rover looking down at the Martian surface.
 

Panorama of Mars from Perseverance Rover

Feb 22, 2021

This panorama, taken on Feb. 20, 2021, by the Navigation Cameras, or Navcams, aboard NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover, was stitched together from six individual images after they were sent back to Earth.

A key objective for Perseverance’s mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet’s geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith.

Subsequent missions, currently under consideration by NASA in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these cached samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis.

The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA’s Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet.

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California built and manages operations of the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover for NASA.
 

See Mars like never before! NASA's Perseverance rover sends new video and images of the Red Planet

Streamed live Feb 22, 2021

NASA’s Perseverance Mars Rover safely touched down on the Red Planet on Feb. 18. So what will the robotic scientist "see" on her descent and what will she do next? Join mission experts for update about the rover – the biggest, heaviest, cleanest, and most sophisticated six-wheeled robot ever launched into space – including imagery it captured and its mission to explore Mars.
 

Tour the Perseverance Mars Rover’s new home with mission experts

Streamed live Feb 25, 2021

Take a guided tour around the first high-definition 360-degree view of Jezero Crater provided by NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover. Mission experts will walk us through the new Martian terrain, explain why it’s got scientists excited, and answer your questions.
The image shows the crater rim and cliff face of the ancient river delta in the distance. The camera system can reveal details as small as 3 to 5 millimeters across near the rover and 2 to 3 meters across in the distant slopes along the horizon.

Speakers:
• Jim Bell — Mastcam-Z principal investigator, Arizona State University
• Elsa Jensen — Mastcam-Z uplink lead, Malin Space Science Systems
• Kjartan Kinch — Mastcam-Z calibration target lead, Niels Bohr Institute of The University Of Copenhagen
 

Perseverance’s first drive on Mars

Mar 5, 2021

NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover took its first ride on Mars, in the Jezero Crater region, on 4 March 2021. Anais Zarifian (Perseverance mobility testbed engineer, JPL) explains the details.
 

New audio recordings from Perseverance: Martian wind and laser shots on Mars

Mar 10, 2021

NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover recorded wind on Mars and the first acoustic recording of laser impacts on a rock target on Mars.
 

Ingenuity deployed on Mars

April 5, 2021

NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover deployed the Ingenuity helicopter in the Jezero crater, Mars. Theodore Tzanetos (Ingenuity Deputy Operations Lead) and MiMi Aung (Mars Helicopter Project Manager) explain the progress so far and the next steps until Ingenuity will perform the first flight on Mars.
 

First flight of the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter: live from Mission Control

Streaming Apr 19, 2021

Up, up, and away! The Ingenuity #MarsHelicopter​ is set to make history. It will make the first attempt at powered flight on another planet on Monday, April 19. Don’t miss your chance to watch live with helicopter team in mission control beginning at 6:15 a.m. EDT (10:15 a.m. UTC) as they receive the data and find out if they were successful.
 

First video of NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter in flight, includes takeoff and landing

Apr 19, 2021

In this video captured by NASA’s Perseverance rover, the agency's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter took the first powered, controlled flight on another planet on April 19, 2021.

The rover was parked at “Van Zyl Overlook,” about 211 feet (64.3 meters) away in Mars' Jezero Crater and chronicled the flight operations with its cameras.

These images from the rover’s Mastcam-Z cameras show the helicopter hovering above the Red Planet's surface. During this first flight, the helicopter climbed to an altitude of 10 feet (3 meters), hovered, and then touched back down on the surface of Mars.

Ingenuity is a technology demonstration. The 4-pound (1.8-kilogram) rotorcraft will help determine whether future explorations on Mars could include an aerial perspective.

Perseverance touched down at "Octavia E. Butler Landing" with Ingenuity attached to its belly on Feb. 18, 2021. The helicopter was deployed to the surface on April 3.

"NASA Mars helicopter makes history as first vehicle to fly on another planet"
Ingenuity has lifted off the Martian surface and launched a new era of planetary exploration.

by Jay Bennett
April 19, 2021
 

Perseverance Rover's Mastcam-Z captures Ingenuity's third flight

Apr 26, 2021

NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter takes off and lands in this video captured on April 25, 2021, by Mastcam-Z, an imager aboard NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover. As expected, the helicopter flew out of its field of vision while completing a flight plan that took it 164 feet (50 meters) downrange of the landing spot. Keep watching, the helicopter will return to stick the landing. Top speed for today's flight was about 2 meters per second, or about 4.5 miles-per-hour.

The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter was built by JPL, which also manages this technology demonstration project for NASA Headquarters. It is supported by NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, and Space Technology Mission Directorate. NASA’s Ames Research Center and Langley Research Center provided significant flight performance analysis and technical assistance during Ingenuity’s development.

A key objective for Perseverance’s mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet’s geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and 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 Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet.

JPL, which is managed for NASA by Caltech in Pasadena, California, built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover.
 

Fourth flight a success for NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter

May 1, 2021

NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter successfully completed a fourth, more challenging flight on the Red Planet on April 30, 2021.

Flight Test No. 4 aimed for a longer flight time, longer distance, and more image capturing to begin to demonstrate its ability to serve as a scout on Mars. Ingenuity climbed to an altitude of 16 feet (5 meters) before flying south and back for an 872-foot (266-meter) round trip. In total, Ingenuity was in the air for 117 seconds, another set of records for the helicopter. The fourth flight lifted off from and returned to “Wright Brothers Field” in Jezero Crater, Mars.

The Ingenuity team at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California determined that the flight was successful after receiving data from the helicopter and imagery from the Perseverance Mars rover.

NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter became the first aircraft in history to make a powered, controlled flight on another planet on April 19, 2021.

Perseverance touched down at Octavia E. Butler Landing with Ingenuity attached to its belly on Feb. 18, 2021. The helicopter was deployed to the surface of Jezero Crater on April 3.

"Ingenuity Completes Its Fourth Flight"

by MiMi Aung, Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Project Manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
April 30, 2021
 

NASA Science Live: Mars helicopter and the future of extraterrestrial flight

May 4, 2021

On April 19, the Ingenuity Mars helicopter became the first spacecraft to achieve powered, controlled flight on another world. This historic flight on Mars has implications for how we will explore other worlds. Join experts from the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter team and upcoming Dragonfly mission to learn about the future of extraterrestrial flight.

Meet the guests:

Mr. Johnny Lam is an Ingenuity Mars Helicopter pilot at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Mr. Lam always had an interest in math and science growing up, and enjoys getting to work on one-of-a-kind missions that are helping us to learn more about the universe. He is an avid frisbee player and has a family that is expecting their second baby soon. Mr. Lam has an exciting vision for how aerial vehicles could be used for exploration in the future. Watch the show to hear more about it!

Mr. Nishant Mehta is the Deputy Lead for the Dragonfly Mobility System at Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory. Mr. Mehta grew up surrounded by science fiction through books and television, these stories reinforced the notion that possibilities are endless with science. His favorite part of his job is knowing that he is working on something that will ultimately be on another planet to help humanity understand our universe better than before.

Ms. Jia-Rui Cook is the News Events & Projects Supervisor at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and will be your host for this episode. As the child of immigrants, she has always been interested in American history and asking the question, “What does it mean to be American?” Working for NASA’s news and media team means she gets a front-row seat at this history in the making. In her role in the media office, she gets to help figure out how stories about first-of-their-kind accomplishments are told. When it comes to the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, Ms. Cook is amazed that the team could build something so light and powerful at the same time.
 

NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter fifth flight lands in New Airfield

May 8, 2021

NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter completed its fifth flight with a one-way journey from Wright Brothers Field to a new airfield 423 feet (129 meters) to the south on May 7, 2021.

Ingenuity climbed to a new altitude record of 33 feet (10 meters). The flight is part of the rotorcraft’s transition to its new operations demonstration phase. This phase will focus on investigating how a rotorcraft can be used, and demonstrate products that only a rotorcraft can provide from its aerial vantage point.

Ingenuity became the first aircraft in history to make a powered, controlled flight on another planet on April 19, 2021, from Wright Brothers Field in Jezero Crater, Mars.
 
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