NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter – dubbed the Marscopter – took incredible photos of the wreckage on the surface of the Red Planet that has been dubbed “otherworldly”.
NASA’s Mars helicopter has captured incredible pictures of an “otherworldly” wreckage on the surface of the Red Planet.
The photos were taken by NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter – dubbed the Marscopter – and the first aircraft to achieve flight on another planet.
The helicopter has completed 67 flights and is preparing to embark on its longest ever to date.
The images, taken last April, show a destroyed wreckage on the surface of Mars, but while they have been dubbed “otherworldly” are not alien in origin.
The debris is actually from the landing equipment that touched down with the Ingenuity and the Perseverance rover in 2021.
The wreckage is part of the landing equipment that brought the helicopter to the surface. (Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech)
Speaking to the NY Times, Ian Clark, an engineer who worked on Perseverance’s parachute system, said: “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.”
The photos could offer insight to other technicians working on future missions to Mars, according to Clark.
He said: “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.”