NASA lost contact with Ingenuity on May 3. The little copter is having problems recharging its batteries due to dust accumulation and the short days of winter. NASA instructed Perseverance to stop all science activities and spend a full day listening. 24 hours later, Ingenuity had built up enough charge to reestablish communications.
Ars Technica Phobos transit
Well, this is cool.
Perseverance captured color video of Phobos as it transits the Sun, and it is wild. Look at lumpy Phobos! Look at the sunspots!
If you watch carefully, you’ll note that the Sun is moving up in the frame even as Phobos moves down. This is true: Phobos has such a short orbital period (7 hours and 39 minutes) that it moves west to east across the sky.
In it
“Well,” said Nyla, “now we’re in it, huh?”
Cas smiled. “Yep,” she said. She looked around. They were alone on the surface with no shelter other than their suits and the tent strapped to the SD Rover. Cas’s smile grew broader. “This is cool,” she said.
Shelter: Generation Mars, Book Two
Coming in March
(available for pre-order now: https://www.amazon.com/Shelter-Generation-Mars-Book-Two/dp/1733731040)
#mars #scifi #childrensbooks #middlegradebooks #kidlit #camping
(image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS, Perseverance, mission sol 136)
Mars communication
The physics of orbiting bodies is about to take away our communication with Mars for a couple weeks.
Buddies
Look at these two!
See https://mars.nasa.gov/resources/25790/perseverances-selfie-with-ingenuity/ for info on how the image was taken.
image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Ingenuity on the surface
Stop a moment and look at this image. The human eye loves a vanishing point image and this is a good one. Look at the way the tracks interact with features of the surface. Look at the other set of tracks to the right. Perseverance has been busy looking for just the right spot. Finally, look at Ingenuity, newly set on the surface of its new home, waiting for its chance to rise up and explore on its own.
image: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Driving on Mars
Want to know what it sounds like to drive on Mars? Well, here you go…
Perseverance moves
Perseverance is on the move!
image: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Perseverance landing video
The video released today of Perseverance landing on Mars is astounding.
If you haven’t yet watched it, or even if you have, I urge you to watch the NASA presentation from 9:15 to 26:37 for full context of what you are seeing.
YouTube Perseverance landing
Here are a couple of “Wow!” shots of Perseverance.
The first is the rover under parachute, captured by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Think of the timing (and luck) that went into this shot. Wow!
The second is Perseverance hanging beneath the sky crane, a literal jetpack that brought the rover within meters of the surface then gently lowered it to touchdown. Seriously: Wow!
