Soar over Mars with NASA's helicopter Ingenuity on its 12th flight (video)

[Judi Lynn]

By Mike Wall about 3 hours ago

- video at link -

NASA's Mars helicopter Ingenuity keeps giving us great bird's-eye views of otherworldly terrain.

Last Monday (Aug. 16), the 4-pound (1.8 kilograms) chopper aced its 12th flight on the Red Planet, a sortie designed to scout out the "South Séítah" region of Jezero Crater for NASA's Perseverance rover.

Perseverance's main tasks are hunting for signs of ancient Mars life and collecting samples for future return to Earth. The car-sized rover failed in its first sample-collecting attempt earlier this month, however, thwarted by unexpectedly powdery Red Planet rock.



NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter acquired this image of Mars' "South Séítah" region during its 12th Red Planet flight, on Aug. 16, 2021. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

Perseverance is now heading toward the geologically intriguing South Séítah area, where the mission team hopes and expects to find rocks better suited for the rover's sampling setup. Ingenuity's observations are helping the rover team plan Perseverance's route to South Séítah and its activities in the area.

More:
https://www.space.com/mars-helicopter-ingenuity-flight-12-video?utm_source=notification