NASA ’s ingeniousness , thefirst aerial vehicleto take flight on another domain , continues to be a story of monumental winner . Being a guide mission it was designed to last 90 days and five flights . Now many months later , having completed its 13thflight , the chopper continuesto take flight higher and furtherthan hoped .
The 13th flight was dispatch on September 5 , where the helicopter be active slower , over a shorter distance , and at a lower altitude than the several premature aerial expedition . And for well reasonableness , Ingenuity is canvas a special ridge in the geologically intriguing locating of South Séítah . This will inform where the rover Perseverance might go next .
Flight 13 covered 210 metre ( 690 foot ) in about 161 seconds moving at a speeding of about 3.3 meters per second ( 7.2 mph ) . That ’s less than half the length covered in the last flight and its slowest and small since former May . The helicopter took 10 exposure all take aim in a particular direction .
“ For escape 13 , we ’ll be becharm images sharpen SW . And when they ’re combine with Flight 12 ’s northeast position , the overlapping range of a function from a low-toned altitude should supply worthful insight for Perseverance scientist and rover drive deviser , ” Teddy Tzanetos , Ingenuity Team Lead at NASA ’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory publish ina web log mail for NASA .
Ingenuity ’s work has been crucial for conduct Perseverance . When decide where to beam a rover , scientists can look around and use orbiter images to receive interesting field . South Séítah is one of these but the images taken by Ingenuity in - trajectory William Tell a deeper and rich account than the expectation from orbiter observations .
“ From a skill perspective , these figure of speech of South Seítah are the most valuable cleverness has taken to date , ” Ken Farley , the labor scientist for NASA ’s Perseverance rover , said of images taken in the 12thFlight in astatement . “ And part of their value may be in what they arenotshowing . aqueous layers in careen are not readily apparent in the image , and there may be areas that could be difficult to negotiate with the rover . There is work to do by our science and wanderer driving team to understand better how to reply to the newfangled data . ”
mix the image will allow for the science team to work out if the area of Artuby Ridge – where Perseverence is currently explore – is worth sticking around for the first science effort , or if there is something at South Séítah that is more worthful to search .
