New images from the ninth flight of the Mars Ingenuity helicopter help improve the science goals of the persistent rover

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A new set of images taken by the Ingenuity helicopter during its final flight over Mars is helping NASA scientists improve the science objectives of the Perseverance rover and chart the best path forward as they search for signs of life on the Red Planet.

The color images, sent Thursday (July 8) after Ingenuity’s ninth flight, show the surface of Jezero Crater, the Perseverance Wagon’s landing site, from just 33 feet (10 meters) high. The images allow scientists to see much smaller terrain features, such as individual boulders and boulders, than can be seen in images from Mars orbit that are normally used to plot a rover’s path. For example, NASA’s High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment, a camera aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, provides a resolution of 3 feet (1 meter). To get to a finer level of detail, teams will have to use the rover itself.

“Once the rover approaches a location, we get Earth-scale images that we can compare to orbital images,” Ken Welford, deputy project scientist for Perseverance from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, said in a statement. “With creativity, we now have these medium-sized images that nicely fill the gap in resolution.”

RELATED: Watch NASA’s Mars Helicopter Creativity Fly in 3D (Video)

The images, taken on July 5, show some features of great interest to scientists hoping to find traces of past or present life at Jezero Crater. The so-called raised ledges are rocky features that scientists believe were used as aquifers for groundwater in the past. Since life is more likely to exist in the presence of water, scientists are looking to collect samples of material from these mounds that could be transported back to Earth in a future sample return mission.

“Our current plan is to visit and investigate Raised Ridges closely,” Williford said. “The helicopter images are much better in terms of resolution than the orbital images we were using. Studying these images will allow us to make sure that a visit to these hills is important to the team.”

During its last flight, Ingenuity also flew over the Séítah dune field, which the Perseverance rover is expected to overtake. But with a layer of sand that can be more than 3 feet deep in some places, the dunes are a potential trap for the six-wheeled vehicle.

“Sand is a major concern,” JPL Perseverance driver Olivier Tobet said in the statement. “If we push a slope into the dunes, we can embed ourselves in it and not be able to get out of it.”

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This site, nicknamed “Rising Edges,” was spotted by NASA’s innovative Mars helicopter during its ninth flight, on July 5. Scientists hope to visit the “higher elevations” with the persistent rover in the future. (Image source: NASA/JPL-Caltech) Image 2 of 3

NASA’s innovative Mars helicopter hovered over this sand dune field in the Jezero Crater area nicknamed “Séítah” during its ninth flight, on July 5, 2021. (Image Source: NASA/JPL-Caltech) Image 3 of 3

NASA’s innovative Mars helicopter flew over these sand dunes and rocks during its ninth flight, on July 5, 2021. While the Mars Perseverance Agency couldn’t risk falling into these sands, scientists are still able to learn about this area through its study of creativity images. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

The dunes are challenging even for the new Perseverance AutoNav feature, which uses artificial intelligence to autonomously drive the rover over long distances, Tobit added. Although the feature can avoid rocks, it struggles to spot sand dunes. Thus, the new creativity images will help land operators better identify high-risk areas in and around the dune field.

“The helicopter is a very valuable asset for roving planning because it provides high-resolution images of the terrain we want to pass through,” Tobitt said. “We can better assess the size of the dunes and where the rocks are protruding. This is great information for us; it helps determine which areas the vehicle can traverse and whether certain high-value science targets can be reached.

The latest images revealed, unfortunately, that the Séítah field would be too risky for the perseverance to attempt any bolder scientific exploration. In the statement, NASA said ground control teams can, however, use the images to better plan scientific operations in other dune fields that the rover will explore in the future.

Follow Teresa Pultarova on Twitter @TerezaPultarova. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.

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