Can you spot the Mars rover in this view from NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter?
Last week, while flying over the surface of Mars for the 11th time, the little helicopter caught a glimpse of its “mothership” — NASA’s Perseverance rover, which landed in Jezero Crater on Feb. 18 with Ingenuity tucked under its belly.
“Ingenuity’s aerial images are awesome — but even better when you get to play ‘Where’s Perseverance?’ with them,” Robert Hogg, an engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, said in a NASA statement. “Once you find our rover and zoom in, you can make out some details, like the wheels, remote sensing mast, and the MMRTG [Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator] on the aft end.”
Ingenuity was about 1,600 feet (500 meters) away from the rover when this photo was taken, flying 39 feet (12 meters) above the Martian surface.
The helicopter took off at 12:50 a.m. EDT (0450 GMT) on Aug. 5 and flew north-by-northwest for 130.9 seconds, averaging about 11 mph, according to NASA’s flight plan (18 kph).
“Flight 11 was essentially designed to keep Ingenuity ahead of the rover, allowing it to continue to support Perseverance’s science goals by photographing intriguing geologic features from the air,” NASA officials said in the statement.
The helicopter is expected to fly above this region of Jezero Crater, called “South Seítah,” at least one more time during its mission on the Red Planet.
READ MORE: An Interactive Map Shows Exactly Where NASA’s Rover Perseverance Is
