Ingenuity problems

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.
 

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
 
#mars #scifi #childrensbooks #middlegradebooks #kidlit #camping
 
(image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS, Perseverance, mission sol 136)

Buddies

Look at these two!

Kolor stitching | 62 pictures | Size: 14114 x 13209 | Lens: Standard | RMS: 3.47 | FOV: NA | Projection: Stereographic | Color: LDR |

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