Ingenuity completes 13th flight
Click for full image.
Though the full slate of images taken has not yet been released, it appears from the five images available that the thirteenth flight of Ingenuity on September 5, 2021 ended successfully. The photo to the right is the last available, and shows the helicopter’s shadow on the ground mere seconds before touch down. The landing legs’ shadows suggest it is oriented properly for that landing.
No word yet on how successful the flight itself was. The goal had been to fly back over the South Seitah area from a different angle and lower altitude, getting different perspectives of the ridges there to help plan Perseverance’s coming travels across that terrain.
The second picture below, cropped, reduced, and enhanced to post here, was taken about forty minutes before take-off by Perseverance and captures Ingenuity in the lower left, as indicated by the arrow.
Click for full image.
The South Seitah area is I think the relatively flat region on the right side of the frame, in front of the nearest ridges, and continues off frame to the right.
Readers!
My annual February birthday fund-raising drive for Behind the Black is now over. Thank you to everyone who donated or subscribed. While not a record-setter, the donations were more than sufficient and slightly above average.
As I have said many times before, I can’t express what it means to me to get such support, especially as no one is required to pay anything to read my work. Thank you all again!
For those readers who like my work here at Behind the Black and haven't contributed so far, please consider donating or subscribing. My analysis of space, politics, and culture, taken from the perspective of an historian, is almost always on the money and ahead of the game. For example, in 2020 I correctly predicted that the COVID panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Every one of those 2020 conclusions has turned out right.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
Click for full image.
Though the full slate of images taken has not yet been released, it appears from the five images available that the thirteenth flight of Ingenuity on September 5, 2021 ended successfully. The photo to the right is the last available, and shows the helicopter’s shadow on the ground mere seconds before touch down. The landing legs’ shadows suggest it is oriented properly for that landing.
No word yet on how successful the flight itself was. The goal had been to fly back over the South Seitah area from a different angle and lower altitude, getting different perspectives of the ridges there to help plan Perseverance’s coming travels across that terrain.
The second picture below, cropped, reduced, and enhanced to post here, was taken about forty minutes before take-off by Perseverance and captures Ingenuity in the lower left, as indicated by the arrow.
Click for full image.
The South Seitah area is I think the relatively flat region on the right side of the frame, in front of the nearest ridges, and continues off frame to the right.
Readers!
My annual February birthday fund-raising drive for Behind the Black is now over. Thank you to everyone who donated or subscribed. While not a record-setter, the donations were more than sufficient and slightly above average.
As I have said many times before, I can’t express what it means to me to get such support, especially as no one is required to pay anything to read my work. Thank you all again!
For those readers who like my work here at Behind the Black and haven't contributed so far, please consider donating or subscribing. My analysis of space, politics, and culture, taken from the perspective of an historian, is almost always on the money and ahead of the game. For example, in 2020 I correctly predicted that the COVID panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Every one of those 2020 conclusions has turned out right.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
I know most of the audience for this blog has more engineering knowledge in their pinkies than I have in my brain, but Ingenuity is one of the more exciting developments in planetary exploration I have seen. The ability to escape the limitations of plodding rovers seems like a way to greatly expand our capabilities.
Agreed Gary. Being able to “fly” on Mars opens up so many more opportunities for exploration that we can hardly conceive how such will be used.
Robert Pratt:
Unsure why ‘fly’ was in quotes. It’s flying, man.