California May 3 : The Mars helicopter, Ingenuity, recently captured a set of eerie images of what looked like extra-terrestrial debris. The debris, however, belonged to NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) and was part of the Mars Mission of 2020. The mission included the conveyance of Mars rover, Perseverance, and copter, Ingenuity.
The two landed on the surface of the red planet on February 18, last year. The disk-like structure, which resembled a UFO, is actually the debris of the parachute and the back shell that assisted Perseverance and Ingenuity for a safe landing.
The images were captured by Ingenuity and provided insights to NASA scientists on the extent and effects of impact during the landing. These insights will prove to be crucial to the preparation for future landings on Mars.
Ingenuity’s images offer a different vantage point. If they either reinforce that our systems worked as we think they worked or provide even on dataset of engineering information for Mars sample return planning, it will be amazing. And if not, the pictures are still phenomenal and inspiring,” said Ian Clark, former Perseverance engineer, Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), in a press release.
The photos of the wreckage showed that the protective coating of the back shell was still intact after impacting the Martian surface at a speed of 126 kilometres per hour. The canopy of the parachute also shows no sign of damage from the supersonic airflow during inflation. The statement by NASA also revealed that the 80 high-strength suspension lines that connected the parachute and the back shell also appear to be intact.
The Ingenuity rover that captured the images has, since being on the planet, spent 49 minutes of flying time and has covered a total distance of 6.2 kilometres. A total of 26 take-offs have been done by Ingenuity.