NASA Ingenuity Helicopter Spots Spacecraft Wreckage on Mars – Perseverance’s Cone-Shaped Backshell

Perseverance’s Backshell From NASA Ingenuity Mars Helicopter

Eyeing some of the components that enabled the Perseverance rover to get safely to the Martian surface could provide valuable insights for future missions.

NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter recently surveyed both the parachute that assisted the agency’s Perseverance rover land on Mars and the cone-shaped backshell that protected the rover in deep space and during its fiery descent toward the Martian surface on February 18, 2021. Engineers with the Mars Sample Return program asked whether Ingenuity could provide this perspective. What resulted were 10 aerial color images captured on April 19 during Ingenuity’s Flight 26.

“NASA extended Ingenuity flight operations to perform pioneering flights such as this,” said Teddy Tzanetos, Ingenuity’s team lead at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. “Every time we’re airborne, Ingenuity covers new ground and offers a perspective no previous planetary mission could achieve. Mars Sample Return’s reconnaissance request is a perfect example of the utility of aerial platforms on Mars.”

Perseverance’s Backshell and Supersonic Parachute

This image of Perseverance’s backshell and supersonic parachute was captured by NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter during its 26th flight on Mars on April 19, 2022. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Entry, descent, and landing on Mars is fast-paced and stressful, not only for the engineers back on Earth, but also for the vehicle enduring the gravitational forces, high temperatures, and other extremes that come with entering Mars’ atmosphere at nearly 12,500 mph (20,000 kph). The parachute and backshell were previously imaged from a distance by the Perseverance rover.

But those collected by the rotorcraft (from an aerial perspective and closer) provide more detail. The images have the potential to help ensure safer landings for future spacecraft such as the Mars Sample Return Lander, which is part of a multimission campaign that would bring Perseverance’s samples of Martian rocks, atmosphere, and sediment back to Earth for detailed analysis.

“Perseverance had the best-documented Mars landing in history, with cameras showing everything from parachute inflation to touchdown,” said JPL’s Ian Clark, former Perseverance systems engineer and now Mars Sample Return ascent phase lead. “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. And if not, the pictures are still phenomenal and inspiring.”

Debris Field for Perseverance Landing Gear Seen From Mars Helicopter

Perseverance’s backshell, supersonic parachute, and associated debris field is seen strewn across the Martian surface in this image captured by NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter during its 26th flight on April 19, 2022.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

In the images of the upright backshell and the debris field that resulted from it impacting the surface at about 78 mph (126 kph), the backshell’s protective coating appears to have remained intact during Mars atmospheric entry. Many of the 80 high-strength suspension lines connecting the backshell to the parachute are visible and also appear intact. Spread out and covered in dust, only about a third of the orange-and-white parachute – at 70.5 feet (21.5 meters) wide, it was the biggest ever deployed on Mars – can be seen, but the canopy shows no signs of damage from the supersonic airflow during inflation. Several weeks of analysis will be needed for a more final verdict.

Flight 26 Maneuvers

Ingenuity’s 159-second flight began at 11:37 a.m. local Mars time April 19, on the one-year anniversary of its first flight. Flying 26 feet (8 meters) above ground level, Ingenuity traveled 630 feet (192 meters) to the southeast and took its first picture. The rotorcraft next headed southwest and then northwest, taking images at pre-planned locations along the route. Once it collected 10 images in its flash memory, Ingenuity headed west 246 feet (75 meters) and landed. Total distance covered: 1,181 feet (360 meters). With the completion of Flight 26, the rotorcraft has logged over 49 minutes aloft and traveled 3.9 miles (6.2 kilometers).

Perseverance’s Backshell and Supersonic Parachute From NASA Ingenuity Mars Helicopter

This image of Perseverance’s backshell and parachute was collected by NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter during its 26th flight on April 19, 2022. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

“To get the shots we needed, Ingenuity did a lot of maneuvering, but we were confident because there was complicated maneuvering on flights 10, 12, and 13,” said Håvard Grip, chief pilot of Ingenuity at JPL. “Our landing spot set us up nicely to image an area of interest for the Perseverance science team on Flight 27, near ‘Séítah’ ridge.”

The new area of operations in Jezero Crater’s dry river delta marks a dramatic departure from the modest, relatively flat terrain Ingenuity had been flying over since its first flight. Several miles wide, the fan-shaped delta formed where an ancient river spilled into the lake that once filled Jezero Crater. Rising more than 130 feet (40 meters) above the crater floor and filled with jagged cliffs, angled surfaces, projecting boulders, and sand-filled pockets, the delta promises to hold numerous geologic revelations – perhaps even proof that microscopic life existed on Mars billions of years ago.

Upon reaching the delta, Ingenuity’s first orders may be to help determine which of two dry river channels Perseverance should climb to reach the top of the delta. Along with route-planning assistance, data provided by the helicopter will help the Perseverance team assess potential science targets. Ingenuity may even be called upon to image geologic features too far afield for the rover to reach or to scout landing zones and sites on the surface where sample caches could be deposited for the Mars Sample Return program.

More About Ingenuity

The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter was built by JPL, which also manages the project for NASA Headquarters. It is supported by NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley and NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, provided significant flight performance analysis and technical assistance during Ingenuity’s development. AeroVironment Inc., Qualcomm, and SolAero also provided design assistance and major vehicle components. Lockheed Space designed and manufactured the Mars Helicopter Delivery System.

At NASA Headquarters, Dave Lavery is the program executive for the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter.

More About Perseverance

A key objective for Perseverance’s mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet’s geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust).

Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis.

The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA’s Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet.

JPL, which is managed for NASA by Caltech in Pasadena, California, built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover.

30 Comments on "NASA Ingenuity Helicopter Spots Spacecraft Wreckage on Mars – Perseverance’s Cone-Shaped Backshell"

  1. They are wonderful pictures and all, but the one thing I get from them is that we’re already polluting another world with trash.

  2. Kurt is correct!!

  3. Doc Real World | April 28, 2022 at 7:14 am | Reply

    Good thing when our sun goes supernova, everything gets recycled back to basic elements. Rest easy my environmental friends…

  4. So I was showng these pictures to my son and he stated that we aren’t even living there yet and we’re already pulluting it?

  5. We are littering another planet.

  6. The elitism and good old boy circles at NASA does a lot worse than pollute other planets. They kill Astronauts too. Never forget. Never trust NASA or any other Governmental agency.

  7. My heart sunk when I saw the picture of trash… My hope is that there are no other “advanced” life forms that would witness this disgrace and trace it back to Earth. I,m so embarrassed already!

    • So your solution is to A) shut down nasa and never explore any other planet again B) Build the space craft in biodegradable material (which i’m sure would survive the landing) or C) build a giant vaccuum to suck up the miniscule about of material left on the planet. Cmon people, is this what you are really worried about, stuff left on Mars?

      • C) – really good idea Paul. Send a fkg Wall-e to clean this s%ite off. Why do we have to smash everything everywhere. Moon has over now 23 crash sites. Mars over 10. And counting. I know it’s a small thing bit it’s not the first on not the last one either. C’mon, are you really happy with this strategy? Or do you think this is lesser evil justifing greater good? Have a good day.

      • How Plan D let you go too Mars on a one way trip with no way back too Earth and you will be the permanent Trash man sort of speak every time we send something there you run your ass out around the planet and pick the trash up and then when you get back too your shack try to think of a way back to Earth of think of a more positive way not to pollute the planet Mars. I’m sure we that care about Mars can arrange a seat for you on the next rocket I will gladly assist in paying for your ticket there.

  8. The_Inverse_of_137 | April 28, 2022 at 9:49 am | Reply

    reading the previous comments I am left thinking….MILLENNIALS ARE NUTS!!!!

    ;-D

  9. it aint millennials, its those that came before us. The generations after WW2 really were the biggest spoiled brats of them all

    • Love the generalisations made by both of you. Helps to see world in simplistic way. Convenient. And not radical at all. I know it helps to get by and through in a complicated world. Have a good day.

  10. not a scientisit | April 28, 2022 at 10:44 am | Reply

    looks like the cover that goes over the sky crane…

  11. Richard Hellard | April 28, 2022 at 12:29 pm | Reply

    It needs a lot more plastic to make it feel like home.

  12. Really, the microscopic amount of rubbish left on the surface of Mars pales into insignificance next to 5hay spread over earth. Every single thing we do has consequences; to call the miniscule footprint we have made on Mars to “pollution” is inane.

    • You can call it however you want – it is an act of pollution nevertheless. Some if the devices have battery powered units, some – in future – might have little reactors – as this is the power source on new generation probes. Then, the small problem, miniscule pile of rubbish becomes a bigger issue right? Or would that be minor thing as well? Have a good day.

  13. We have virtually destroyed this planet with dumping crap everywhere. Lets start dumping trash on a new planet which we one day hope to live on! We certainly are not learning much about environmental awareness. At least when the ‘Martians’ arrive from Earth they will feel at home!

  14. Kurt you are absolutely right. This fascination with robotics is alright for now . Our goal should be made clear by now . We’ve had satellites there for years mapping and following weather patterns. If colonization is in the cards , forget about Nuclear Rockets because it could make it unsuitable more than it is now . I have a better plan but no one is listening

  15. But they can’t show you proof of moon landing

  16. I’m sure when/if we ever send humans to Mars they will pick up their trash… Unfortunately, they need to do these types of missions in order to advance the science and technology to safely get us there.

  17. “Oh it’s so sad that we’re littering on another planet”… You idiots have to be most self-centered morons ever to take a breath. ” My son said it’s so sad that we’re putting trash on another planet” obviously your son is a stupid as you are. I’m not so worried about the sun swallowing up all the trash. I’d much rather the sun swallow up all the idiots

    • Well, hope you get a sun stroke one day. And don’t call me idiot. Got my worries and you have yours. Stick with it without being offensive. Have a good day.

  18. Daniel E Simmons | April 28, 2022 at 10:15 pm | Reply

    Leaving trash on Mars. It is not trash it is a science project in the making.

  19. I have too agree we are already destroying our planet with pollution and poison why should we destory Mars that is at least 6 billion years old without mankind’s pollution.

  20. How about this fellows when we do begin colonizing mars 25 years from now that crash sight could be turned into a martian national park and preserve the crash sight so everyone can see how it all started.

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