Ingenuity: NASA Helicopter Finds 'Other World' Debris on Mars – Newsbomb – News

Mysterious debris is scattered across the Red Planet's terrain

NASA's impressive Mars rover, Ingenuity, has found an “unusual” spot while making its way through space above the Red Planet.

As part of the Mars 2020 mission, the helicopter has spent the past four years making 72 flights over Mars, with NASA noting that this has far exceeded the technological “endurance” originally planned. The helicopter is designed to survey areas of Mars that may be of potential interest to the scientific community. It was during one of his travels in 2022 when he stumbled upon a strange sight.

Images sent by the helicopter to Earth show mysterious debris on the surface of the Red Planet, where the debris was abandoned and scattered on the ground. Given the location of the wreckage, it would be easy to believe that Ingenuity has found indisputable evidence of the existence of aliens. But the only “aliens” involved in this mystery are the ones who sent Ingenuity to Mars in the first place, namely…Earth scientists.

The images show debris from the landing gear that was used when Ingenuity arrived at Mars. Ian Clark, the engineer who worked on Perseverance's parachute system, spoke to the New York Times about the images, saying, “There's definitely a science fiction element to it. It seems strange, doesn't it?” He continued, “They say a picture is worth 1,000 words, but it's also worth understanding.” “Definitely for engineering.”

While the images show the chaos we've made on Mars, they could also be particularly useful for those planning future missions.

“The Perseverance rover made the best documented landing on Mars in history, with the cameras showing it all,” Clark explained.

Hopefully, Ingenuity's flights over Mars will help pave the way for future aerial explorers to the planet and perhaps even other space destinations.

*With information from unilad