Perseverance Rover made panoramas at Helipad – Mars Helicopter Ingenuity deployment place

Yesterday, NASA Mission Control re-surveyed the Ingenuity Helipad in preparation for it to be released and prepped for flight... This all takes time, but is necessary... I noted that there is a cylindrical element onboard Perseverance, which appears to have some damage... Most likely damaged during the landing... We are getting close to Ingenuity's first flight attempt, which should occur in early April... Full Screen viewing recommended.

Here is the write up that accompanies the video:

"On March 26, 2021 NASA’s Perseverance Rover made several amazing panoramas of Helipad – Mars Helicopter deployment place. As for now, Release system of the Helicopter is locked. But Rover definitely at Helipad. So upcoming event is Ingenuity unlocking (releasing) and bringing Helicopter upright. On the sixth and final scheduled sol of this deployment phase, the team will need to confirm three things: that Ingenuity’s four legs are firmly on the surface of Jezero Crater, that the rover did, indeed, drive about 16 feet (about 5 meters) away, and that both helicopter and rover are communicating via their onboard radios. This milestone also initiates the 30-sol clock during which time all preflight checks and flight tests must take place.

Credit: nasa.gov, NASA/JPL-Caltech, NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU

Enjoy,
Kerry
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