Martian Wreckage (but the interesting kind)

[krpalmer]

My RSS reader pointed me to a news item that the Ingenuity mini-helicopter, still gathering enough charge to keep flying on Mars, has photographed the top half of the capsule that carried it and the bigger Perseverance rover into the atmosphere. Other Mars rovers have glimpsed cast-off hardware from their reentries and landings before (the item mentioned Perseverance had already spotted its crumpled parachute), but the aerial perspective was fascinating for all that the condition of the “backshell” shows how you need more than a parachute to make a soft landing on Mars. I can find some reassurance in Ingenuity showing its own perseverance on Mars, too.