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NASA Perseverance is continuing to move across the Martian surface after depositing ten tubes containing rock, regolith and atmosphere samples for the Mars Sample Return mission (for backup option). Now the engineers are aiming to trace the delta of the river that once filled the Jezero crater for new analyzes and the collection of further samples. To do this there will also be the support of the NASA Ingenuity drone which reached the 42nd confirmed flight.
The mission is therefore still in progress and will last, according to the Curiosity rover (similar to Perseverance) for several more years. Before leaving the area where the tubes are currently located the rover snapped one panoramic photography made from 368 individual images. In the photo you can see all ten test tubes on the soil of Mars which can be picked up by drones similar to Ingenuity in case the master plan fails.
NASA Perseverance and the continuation of the mission
The photographs were made using the camera Mastcam-Z when on Earth it was January 31, 2023. The provision provides for leaving space between one sample and another so that they can be collected correctly by drones in case of need. The Martian dust shouldn’t be a problem according to the scientists who expect that, even after a few years, the test tubes will be covered in a thin layer, but not so much as to make them untraceable.
Click on the image to enlarge
Currently NASA Perseverance traveled approx 14.34km and has been on the Red Planet for 707 sols (over a Martian year). Ingenuity, on the other hand, is a little further on and there is good news for the drone too, even if the most complex period of its exploratory phase begins now. After completing its 42nd flight, JPL scheduled the 43rd flight for Feb. 11 but there is currently no confirmation of its success.
According to reports, the displacement will be equal to 376.56 meters with a flight time of 137.05″ and a maximum altitude of 12 meters and a maximum speed of 4 m/s. As explained by engineers the drone is now in a better condition than it was a few months ago. In fact, the Martian winter is passing and the batteries are able to charge correctly (reaching up to 90%). This means allowing you to turn on the electronics heating system which avoids dropping the temperature down to -85°C.
Now be it NASA Perseverance That NASA Ingenuity they are entering an area where communications may be difficult. We remind you that to communicate with the Earth, the drone necessarily needs the rover. This means that the two cannot be separated by large distances. The rover remains the priority and therefore the drone is “expendable” under extreme conditions. Engineers also know that the landing zones will become more inaccessible, further complicating things. Travis Brown (JPL engineer) said “It goes without saying that there are no guarantees when it comes to flying to Mars, but as long as our helicopter endures every Martian night and talks to us every Martian morning, we’ll keep going further, faster, and higher. We’ll stretch our legs, we will shake off the Martian dust and fly like we have never flown before”.
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