NASA’s update about Ingenuity which arrived on Mars!

On February 18, NASA’s Ingenuity arrived on Mars along with the Perseverance rover. It made the long trek to the planet. As of April 4, the little chopper has parted with Perseverance to prepare to take to the sky during a month-long test campaign. It will be the 1st power-guided flight to another planet if Ingenuity’s foray is successful.

The helicopter’s rotor blades have been unlocked and are ready for testing as per the update from NASA. A slow-speed spin-up of the blades is planned for the 1st time on the Martian surface. Ingenuity flight preparations have been cautious and slow because it made the journey in a folded configuration tucked behind a protective shield. The shield was dropped by the Rover and drove to the airfield, and the device was ordered by the helicopter’s personal to unpack and unfold itself slowly. Then the Perseverance set Ingenuity directly on the Martian surface and drive away.

Details About The Selfies Taken By Perseverance –

NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover 1st ever selfie; it decided to share the spotlight with the Ingenuity drone. With the Ingenuity helicopter drone, Perseverance took the selfie, which is from the body of the Rover 13 feet away. One of its robotic arms was used to take the picture by Perseverance. The photo was created from the 62 images taken by Perseverance’s WATSON camera on the SHERLOC instrument, which can be found at the end of the Rover’s robotic arm.

These images were sent to NASA, and NASA created the final image from there. As per an update from NASA, the pictures were taken in sequence while the drone was looked at by the Rover and then again while the camera was looked at. The final images were of massive 112-megapixel photos. How large the two pictures are, to give an idea, NASA shared the close-up-crop of the selfie that is 4180 x 2350 pixels in size. It also put together a gif to show how the Rover’s head moves back and forth.