PERSEVERANCE CAPTURES SOUND OF INGENUITY FLYING ON MARS

WASHINGTON: NASA’S Perseverance rover has for the first time captured the low-pitched whirring of the Ingenuity helicopter’s blades as it flies through Martian atmosphere.

The space agency on Friday released new footage shot by the six-wheeled robot of its rotorcraft companion making its fourth flight on April 30 -this time accompanied by an audio track. The video begins with the low rumble of wind blowing across the Jezero Crater, where Perseverance landed in February on a mission to search for signs of ancient microbes.

“This is a very good surprise,” said David Mimoun, a professor of planetary science at Institut Superieur de l’aeronautique et de l’espace in Toulouse, France, and science lead for the Supercam Mars microphone.