By Tory Shepherd.
Master and apprentice, the Mars rover Perseverance took this April 6 selfie with Ingenuity after deploying the tiny aircraft. This image itself speaks of the mission’s technological wonder: it’s 62 individual frames stitched together, captured with a camera called WATSON (Wide Angle Topographic Sensor for Operations and eNgineering) located at the end of the rover’s robotic arm, which ends up out of the picture when the mosaic is assembled.
One could dismiss these flights as mere displays – but they’re displays of what’s to come.
One day, there might be swarms of these tiny choppers on Mars, scouring the landscape for information – including the possible proof of extra-terrestrial life.
Cosmos Magazine issue 91 goes on sale on Thursday 3 June 2021.
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Originally published by Cosmos as Just a little perseverance
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