NASAThe Ingenuity helicopter can be seen here taking off, soaring and then landing on the Mars surface on March 19, 2021. The Mastcam-Z imager aboard NASA’s Perseverance March rover shot video of the helicopter’s flight. The video is presented here in side-by-side formats that have both improved to show that a dust plume swirls during takeoff and again during landing.
The view on the left uses motion filtering to indicate where dust was detected during takeoff and landing, and the view on the right is enhanced with motion filtering. Scientists use this image processing to detect dust devils as they pass by Mars robbers. An additional version of the video contains a timer that is counted down until it is lifted and then counted until the landing.
A ghostly “cut-out” of the helicopter is visible in every side-by-side format; it is an artifact associated with digital processing.
The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter was built by JPL, which also manages this technology demonstration project for NASA headquarters. It is supported by NASA’s Directorate of Science Mission, Directorate of Aeronautical Research Mission and Directorate of Space Technology. NASA’s Ames Research Center and Langley Research Center provided significant flight performance analysis and technical assistance during the development of Ingenuity.
Arizona State University in Tempe leads the operations of the Mastcam-Z instrument, and works in partnership with Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego.