Mars helicopter Ingenuity captures 3D view of Raised Ridges on the Red Planet
By Samantha Mathewson
3 days ago
Photos from NASA's Mars helicopter Ingenuity’s 10th flight were used to create this 3D view of a geologic feature on Mars called Raised Ridges. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech )
NASA's Mars helicopter Ingenuity captured stunning new aerial views of its landing site Jezero Crater during its most complex flight yet.
Ingenuity, which landed with the Perseverance rover inside Jezero Crater, an ancient, Martian lakebed, on Feb. 18, completed its 10th flight on July 24, climbing to a new record altitude of 40 feet (12 meters). From this vantage point, Ingenuity was able to photograph low-lying wrinkles, or "Raised Ridges," in the crater's surface, which may reveal new clues about Mars' watery past, according to a statement from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).
"Ingenuity is allowing the Perseverance science team to be in two places at once," Kevin Hand, a scientist at JPL and co-lead of Perseverance’s first science campaign, said in the statement. "Right now, we are at the ‘Crater Floor Fractured Rough,’ where the rover is preparing for the mission’s first sample acquisition on Mars. Yet at the same time, Ingenuity is providing a detailed preview of a potentially intriguing geologic features hundreds of meters away from us."
During its 10th flight, the helicopter took off from its seventh airfield and flew about 310 feet (95 m) before landing at a new airfield. From take off to landing, the entire flight lasted just under 3 minutes, during which the helicopter snapped 10 photos using its color camera.
More:
https://www.space.com/mars-helicopter-ingenuity-3D-images-raised-ridges