A NASA helicopter once took photographs of an ‘otherworldly’ wreckage on the surface of Mars - initially baffling scientists with its find.
The Ingenuity Helicopter was a small aircraft carried to the surface of Mars on the bottom of the NASA Perseverance rover in July 2020.
After being deployed for its first flight in April 2021, Ingenuity, nicknamed Ginny, completed 72 flights before engineers eventually retired it in January due to fault.
Initially part of the Mars 2020 mission, the helicopter was only supposed to embark on five trips across the Red Planet, screening particular areas that the Perseverance rover couldn’t physically reach.
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It’s therefore fair to say that completing 67 more expeditions than initially outlined saw the famed aircraft exceeded all expectations.
One of Ginny’s most talked about discoveries came in 2022 when it beamed back images of strange wreckage on the surface of the seemingly inhabited planet.
Photos taken by the helicopter showed debris strewn across the ground.
If your first thought was that the machine had stumbled upon undeniable proof of aliens then you’re mistaken, because the only beings involved in this mystery were the ones who sent Ingenuity up to Mars in the first place - us.
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The images show the debris of the landing equipment used when Ingenuity arrived on Mars with the Perseverance rover back in 2021.
Ian Clark, an engineer who worked on Perseverance’s parachute system, spoke to The New York Times about the photographs, saying: “There's definitely a sci-fi element to it. It exudes otherworldly, doesn't it?”
He continued: “They say a picture's worth 1,000 words, but it's also worth an infinite amount of engineering understanding.”
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Though the photos do admittedly show what a mess we've made up on Mars, they could also be particularly helpful for technicians working on future missions.
Clark explained: “Perseverance had the best-documented Mars landing in history, with cameras showing everything from parachute inflation to touchdown.
“But Ingenuity's images offer a different vantage point.
“If they either reinforce that our systems worked as we think they worked or provide even one dataset of engineering information we can use for Mars Sample Return planning, it will be amazing.
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“And if not, the pictures are still phenomenal and inspiring.”
Teddy Tzanetos, Ingenuity's team lead at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, added: “NASA extended Ingenuity flight operations to perform pioneering flights such as this.
“Every time we're airborne, Ingenuity covers new ground and offers a perspective no previous planetary mission could achieve.”
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Ingenuity's flights over Mars are hoped to help pave the way for future aerial explorers at Mars and potentially even other space destinations.
Ella Scott