Although NASA’s Perseverance rover landed on Mars, it can’t begin its task of analyzing and caching samples of Martian rocks and soil until it dispatches the little hitchhiker in its belly, known as the Mars Helicopter Ingenuity. This tiny rotorcraft could point the way toward a whole new way to explore the red planet. Cat Hofacker spoke to Bob Balaram, the chief engineer for Ingenuity.
Event Tag: Mars
ASCENDxWebinar: Preview: Mars Perseverance Landing
On Demand Recording Available
One week before the scheduled landing of the Perseverance Rover on Mars, we invite you to join the ASCEND community for an exclusive briefing with members of the NASA mission, science, and technical team.
This 60-minute livestream broadcast will take place on 10 February, 1000–1100 hrs ET USA.
The briefing will preview these mission highlights:
- The complex Entry, Descent, and Landing (EDL) sequence of maneuvers to position Perseverance in the Jezero Crater
- The first flight of the Mars Helicopter, Ingenuity
- Digging into the Martian surface for soil, rocks, and core samples to return to Earth on a future mission
- Making oxygen from the Martian atmosphere
- Plus live Q&A.
