On Mars, NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter took new pictures of the spacecraft’s destruction on the red planet. But these are not UFOs.
Photos taken from a height of 26 feet earlier this month show dust-coated cables connecting the rear shell to a supersonic parachute used last year to nail access.
According to the space agency, the cable is intact.
“The rear shell and parachute helped protect the rover in deep space and during its fiery descent over Mars,” NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory said. It said in a press release.
NASA said the debris field was the result of a rear shell and parachute hitting the surface of Mars at a speed of 78 mph after releasing the Rover Perseverance, which landed better by landing rockets.
“The canvas shows no signs of damage to supersonic airflow during inflation,” NASA said.
Only a third of the 70 -foot -wide parachute can be seen in the photos:
NASA said the image analysis could help provide information on future missions to Mars.
“Perseverance has had the best documented access to Mars in history, with cameras showing everything from a parachute to a touch,” said Ian Clark, former Perseverance systems engineer and current head of the stage of the Sample Return climb. to Mars. It said in a press release. “But the images from Ingenuity offer a different opinion. Whether they say our systems work as we think or even give us a set of engineering information that we can use to plan the return of a sample of Mars, it is surprising. And if not, the images are still impressive and inspiring ”.
Perseverance, NASA’s largest and most advanced rover on Mars, is looking for life in a region where scientists believe it was once a river delta. It will also take samples, stamp them on pipes, and leave them to collect and return to Earth for a future mission.
Source: Huffpost
