Posted on 02/05/2024 5:05:32 PM PST by Ezekiel
Ingenuity already looks lonely.
NASA's Perseverance Rover took a photo of its broken companion, the Ingenuity helicopter, as it sat alone on a dune.
In this most recent photo of Ingenuity, the dual-rotor 'copter can be seen motionless on a sandy dune in the background, as a barren, rocky Mars landscape fills the foreground.
The photo was taken on Feb. 4, 2024, at 1:05 p.m. local mean solar time, a little over two weeks since it suffered its mission-ending damage.
NASA and JPL's Ingenuity helicopter on the surface of Mars as seen by the Perseverance rover's
Mastcam-Z camera on Feb. 4, 2024. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)
Ingenuity suffered damage to its rotors during a flight on Jan. 18 as it made a landing on a featureless, "bland" patch of sandy Martian landscape. The helicopter usually makes use of landscape features such as rocks to help it navigate, but its 72nd flight found the drone without visual cues.
(Excerpt) Read more at space.com ...
Like so many freepers 🙂
Someday it will be returned to Earth and sold on Ebay for a cool $1,000,000.
By the time that occurs, they won’t be using dollars, we will porbably be using Ningis.
It is quite possible that Ingenuity is suffering from a stuned beeber.
Let’s hope that some of these objects left on Mars, the Moon etc. stay there unmolested. Armstrong and Aldrin’s footprints should remain stamped into the lunar regolith for as long as human history endures. They are like a signature from mankind: “We were here.”
I’m pretty sure I see a Jack Rabbit, helicopter not so much.
That would be a great tribute to our ‘60s and ‘70s space program, and to the astronauts themselves!
Life on Mars is harsh and brief.
I am of the belief that the time and resources expelled for these programs could be better served exploring our own oceans....If you don’t know how your own home is built how do you rationalize these expenditures?
It tried to zig for great justice, but all its rotor were belong to the Martians.
If the Navy/Air Force film is true of UAPs breaking the surface of the ocean with nary a sound or ripple, then maybe we shouldn’t go looking where we don’t know what we might find.
Yeah, it’s not like some old clapped-out Chevy sitting on blocks in the driveway...
Bingo!
Poor little fella.
I wonder what caused his blade to break?
Looks like an old and broken toy discarded on the side of the road.
How do you rationalize expenditures?
Eventually our Sun will expand, and we need to move out into space to survive. The helicopter is a proof-of-concept experiment to find out if powered flight is possible. It’s mission was, if it flew at all, to last may 30 days and fly 3-4 times. Well, like some other JPL missions (Opportunity Rover), the helicopter did not just prove flight is possible, it lasted over a year. The Perseverance rover that brought the helicopter Ingenuity to Mars also had other proof-of-concept experiments. One is called MOXIE, and MOXIE proved that we can make oxygen out of the Martian atmosphere. This is huuuuge. Instead of having to always bring oxygen to Mars, we can create to breathe, and also for fuel.
Currently there are at least 4 more space stations planned to orbit the Earth. We will eventually have space stations much farther out. Besides mining other planets and moons, we will mine the asteroid belt. Mars is just a stepping stone to humans exploring the cosmos, but a very necessary step. Many future experiments and proof-of-concept efforts will fail, as we figure out how to explore and survive out there.
Hey, that's what we had four seasons of "Voyage To the Bottom of the Sea" for!
NASA and others have already worked with governments to hammer out agreements regarding historical sites on the Moon.
The idea generally is to prevent space tourism or tourists (sooner than we think, probably) from disturbing those sites. They are envisioning steps to keep those areas off-limits, a sort of “look but don’t touch”.
No selfies sitting in the lunar rover, I guess. I figure if I could get a charger or a battery up there, maybe take ‘er for a spin.
NASA, Not A Space Agency.
More of a money laundering scheme
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