<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><div class=""><section class="content-wrapper" style="margin: 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; overflow: visible; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51);"><div itemprop="articleBody" id="article-body" class="bodyCopy auto text-copy" style="margin: 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; clear: both; position: relative; word-break: break-word;"><div class=""><section id="ember22" class="opened collapsible ember-view" style="box-sizing: border-box; max-height: none; overflow-y: hidden;"><div class="text" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class=""><section id="ember25" class="opened collapsible ember-view" style="box-sizing: border-box; max-height: none; overflow-y: hidden;"><div class="text" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="type-image dnd-atom-wrapper context-full_width" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; display: table; margin: 0px auto 2em;"><div class="dnd-drop-wrapper" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a href="https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/e1-pia24689-rte-image.jpg" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(66, 139, 202);" class=""></a></div><div class="dnd-legend-wrapper" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 11px;"><div class="caption" style="box-sizing: border-box;">The Return to Earth camera on NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter snapped this picture of geologic feature the Mars Perseverance rover team calls “Raised Ridges” during its 10th flight at Mars, on July 24, 2021.</div><div class="credits" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech</div><div class="link" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: inherit; background-size: inherit; background-attachment: inherit; background-origin: inherit; background-clip: inherit; padding: 0px; background-position: inherit; background-repeat: inherit;"><a href="" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(66, 139, 202);" class=""></a></div></div></div><blockquote style="font-family: Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 10px 8px 10px 20px; margin: 1em 0px 0em 40px; font-size: 17.5px; border-width: 0px 0px 0px 5px; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); font-style: italic; max-width: 40%; float: right;" class=""><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px; -webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; font-size: 1em; line-height: 1.4em;" class="">“If you look closely, you can see some curious lines across the surfaces of several rocks.”</p><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; -webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; font-size: 1em; line-height: 1.4em;" class="">–Perseverance science team member Kevin Hand</div></blockquote><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px; -webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; line-height: 1.4em;" class=""><font face="Gill Sans" size="4" class=""><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></font></div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px; -webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; line-height: 1.4em;" class=""><font face="Gill Sans" size="4" class="">Ingenuity captured the images during its most complex flight yet. After taking off from its seventh airfield, it climbed to a new record altitude of 40 feet (12 meters). The helicopter then made four heading changes and took 10 images with the rotorcraft’s color camera before landing at a new airfield. The 3D image was created by combining two of those images, offering the rover team a richer perspective as they plan the next steps in their science campaign.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px; -webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; line-height: 1.4em;" class=""><font face="Gill Sans" size="4" class="">“In 3D it almost feels like you can reach out and touch the Raised Ridges,” said Hand. “But along with its immersive beauty, the image provides great detail. If you look closely, you can see some curious lines across the surfaces of several rocks. Are these just made by eons of wind and dust blowing over the rocks, or might those features tell the story of water? We just don’t know yet.” </font><span style="font-family: "Gill Sans"; font-size: large; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit;" class="">Those details are important. In their search for signs of ancient life on Mars, the team is considering drilling a rock or sediment sample in the Raised Ridges, which would take several Martian days, or sols, of driving to reach. With Ingenuity’s images, the rover team now has a much better idea of what to expect if they were to go there and the science value of doing so. In the weeks to come, the science team will pour over this and other 3D images from Ingenuity and debate the merits of such a visit. </span><span style="font-family: "Gill Sans"; font-size: large; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit;" class="">“Since landing at Jezero Crater, it’s clear to all of us that there is an abundance of geologic riches for us to explore. It’s a good problem to have,” said Ken Williford, deputy project scientist for Perseverance at JPL. “These aerial previews from Ingenuity provide the kind of actionable data that allow us to whittle down our options and get on with the business of exploring our corner of Mars.” </span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px; -webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; line-height: 1.4em;" class=""><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;" class=""><font face="Gill Sans" size="4" class="">More About the Mission</font></strong></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px; -webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; line-height: 1.4em;" class=""><font face="Gill Sans" size="4" class="">A key objective for Perseverance’s mission on Mars is <a href="https://astrobiology.nasa.gov/" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(66, 139, 202);" class="">astrobiology</a>, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet’s geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust). </font><span style="font-family: "Gill Sans"; font-size: large; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit;" class="">Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis. </span><span style="font-family: "Gill Sans"; font-size: large; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit;" class="">The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA’s Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes </span><a href="https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis/" style="font-family: "Gill Sans"; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(66, 139, 202);" class="">Artemis</a><span style="font-family: "Gill Sans"; font-size: large; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit;" class=""> missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet. </span><span style="font-family: "Gill Sans"; font-size: large; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit;" class="">JPL, which is managed for NASA by Caltech in Pasadena, California, built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px; -webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; line-height: 1.4em;" class=""><font face="Gill Sans" size="4" class="">For more about Perseverance: </font><font face="Gill Sans" size="4" class=""><strong style="font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(66, 139, 202);" class=""><a href="https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/" style="font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(66, 139, 202);" class="">mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/</a> </strong><strong style="font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;" class="">and</strong><strong style="font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(66, 139, 202);" class=""> </strong><a href="https://nasa.gov/perseverance" style="font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(66, 139, 202);" class=""><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">nasa.gov/perseverance</strong></a></font></p><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><font face="HelveticaNeue" style="font-size: 36px;" class=""><b class="">A view of the rings of Saturn</b></font></div></div></section></div></div></section></div></div></section></div><div class=""><div class="image slide-container" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1em; width: auto; height: calc(85% - 100px); caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: "Titillium Web", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><div id="ember189" class="loaded ember-view flex-wrapper col-xs-push-1 col-xs-10" style="box-sizing: border-box; position: relative; min-height: 1px; padding: 0px; float: left; width: 920px; left: 92px; overflow: hidden; background-image: none; align-items: center; top: 50px; display: flex; height: 377.40625px;"></div></div></div></body></html>