2 years, 8 months ago

NASA to launch 2 more choppers to Mars to help return rocks

NASA is launching two more mini helicopters to Mars in its effort to return Martian rocks and soil samples to Earth. The most recent sample, a sedimentary rock, holds the greatest promise of containing possible evidence of ancient Martian life, said Arizona State University's Meenakshi Wadhwa, chief scientist for the retrieval effort. The helicopters will be modelled after NASA's successful Ingenuity, which has made 29 flights since arriving with Perseverance at Mars early last year. NASA officials said Perseverance's impressive performance at Mars prompted them to ditch their plan to launch a separate fetch rover. Jeff Gramling, director of NASA's Mars sample return program, said the revised path forward is simpler.

The Hindu

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