Ingenuity Spots Rocks During Ninth Flight

NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter flew over these sand dunes and rocks during its ninth flight, on July 5, 2021, the 133rd Martian day, or sol, of the mission. This sand is too risky for NASA's Perseverance Mars rover to visit (it could get stuck), but scientists are still able to learn about this region by studying it from Ingenuity's images. A portion of the helicopter's landing gear can be seen at top left, and its shadow is visible bottom center. 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. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA24726