NASA has given a mission extension to the Mars helicopter Ingenuity and is now testing to to see how it can aid in actual exploration fo the Red Planet.
Mars-Hubschrauber Ingenuity: Flug ohne Rückkehr geglückt, Ton aufgenommen heise.de - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from heise.de Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Video of Ingenuity s shadow taken on its third flight on April 25, 2021. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
The blades don t seem to move due to the way the images were taken; the shutter is synched to the blade movement. The bright spot around the shadow is due to the opposition effect: The lack of shadows from rocks and other irregularities on the surface makes it look brighter, plus some dusty surfaces tend to reflect more light straight back in the direction the light came from, making it look brighter around the shadow.
A fifth flight is planned in the next few days, where Ingenuity will take a one-way trip to a new landing site it visited on flight four. For a few days after that Perseverance will travel south to join up with it again.