Click here for Figure A animation (.mp4, 36 MB)

Click here for Figure B animation (.gif, 12 MB)

This video combines two perspectives of the 59th flight of NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter. The frame on the left shows video from NASA's Perseverance Mars rover; the frame on the right is footage taken by Ingenuity's downward-pointing black-and-white Navigation Camera, or Navcam, with the helicopter's shadow visible on the Martian surface.

The 142-second flight, which took place on Sept 16, 2023, was intended to check Martian wind patterns. The rotorcraft hovered at different altitudes: 13 feet (4 meters), 26 feet (8 meters), 39 feet (12 meters), 52 feet (16 meters), and 66 feet (20 meters). The highest altitude achieved in this flight was at that time a record for Ingenuity. The helicopter also demonstrated during Flight 59 that it could land at speeds 25% slower than originally designed.

The video clip from Perseverance was captured by the rover's Mastcam-Z imager from about 180 feet (55 meters) away. Shown here is an enhanced-color view that exaggerates subtle color differences in the scene to show more detail.

The inset video shows black-and-white imagery taken by Ingenuity's downward-pointing Navigation Camera (Navcam) during the flight. The video ends shortly after the helicopter's final hover at 13 feet (4 meters) as it begins its final descent to the surface.

Figure A is the Mastcam-Z footage of Flight 59 in its entirety.

Figure B is Ingenuity's Navcam perspective of Flight 59 in its entirety.

The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter was built by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which 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 Martin Space designed and manufactured the Mars Helicopter Delivery System.

Arizona State University leads the operations of the Mastcam-Z instrument, working in collaboration with Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego, on the design, fabrication, testing, and operation of the cameras, and in collaboration with the Niels Bohr Institute of the University of Copenhagen on the design, fabrication, and testing of the calibration targets.

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 the agency by Caltech in Pasadena, California, built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover.

For more about Perseverance: mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/