Skip to main content

See the surface of Mars in 3D thanks to the Ingenuity helicopter

On its 13th flight, the Ingenuity helicopter skimmed low over the surface of Mars, imaging one particular area of rock. Unlike previous flights, which had covered multiple targets over larger areas, this flight was to investigate one target in-depth — and now NASA has released a 3D image from that flight, showing a portion of the South Seítah region of the Jezero Crater.

A 3D view of a rock mound called “Faillefeu” created from data collected by NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter.
This 3D view of a rock mound called “Faillefeu” was created from data collected by NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter during its 13th flight at Mars on Sept. 4, 2021. NASA/JPL-Caltech

“Best viewed with red-blue glasses, this stereo, or 3D, view (also called an anaglyph) was created by combining data from two images taken 16 feet (5 meters) apart by the color camera aboard Ingenuity,” NASA writes. Though if you don’t have 3D glasses, not to worry, as there is a 2D version of the image available as well.

An image of an area the Mars Perseverance rover team calls “Faillefeu” was captured by NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter during its 13th flight on Mars on Sept. 4, 2021.
This image of an area the Mars Perseverance rover team calls “Faillefeu” was captured by NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter during its 13th flight over Mars on Sept. 4, 2021. NASA/JPL-Caltech

Unlike previous images captured by the helicopter, which have largely been from a higher altitude, this image was captured just 8 meters (26 feet) from the surface. That means it shows the surface features in greater detail, including the main target: An area nicknamed Faillefeu after a medieval abbey in the French Alps.

Recommended Videos

“About 33 feet (10 meters) wide, the mound is visible just north of the center of the image, with some large rocks casting shadows,” NASA wrote. “Stretching across the top of the image is a portion of ‘Artuby,’ a ridgeline more than half a mile (900 meters) wide. At the bottom of the image, and running vertically up into the middle, are a few of the many sand ripples that populate South Seítah.”

Since it arrived on Mars with its companion Perseverance rover, the Ingenuity helicopter has been performing increasingly complicated flights. Its first mission phase was intended as a technology demonstration, meaning it was just a test to see if a helicopter could fly in the thin Martian atmosphere, but has proved such a success it has moved onto a new phase of operations in which it investigates how helicopters can support future rovers.

Georgina Torbet
Georgina has been the space writer at Digital Trends space writer for six years, covering human space exploration, planetary…
Fly over the trenches of Mars in stunning video of Nili Fossae
Fly across Nili Fossae with Mars Express.

A video simulates a flyover of the Nili Fossae trenches on Mars. CREDIT ESA/DLR/FU Berlin & NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Data: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin/NASA/MSSS ; Data processing and animation: Björn Schreiner, Greg Michael, Image Processing Group (FU Berlin) ; Music: Björn Schreiner ; Created by Freie Universität Berlin Planetary Sciences and Remote Sensing 2024 (CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO)

A new video from the European Space Agency (ESA) shows a stunning flyover of Mars's Nili Fossae trenches that was constructed using data from the Mars Express mission. The dramatic landscapes of Mars include huge mountains like Olympus Mons, the largest mountain in the solar system, and deep canyons.

Read more
NASA to help with the launch of Europe’s unlucky Mars rover
An artist's impression of the Rosalind Franklin rover on Mars.

An artist's impression of the Rosalind Franklin rover on Mars. ESA/Mlabspace

Europe's unlucky Mars rover, known as Rosalind Franklin, has gotten a boost thanks to a new cooperation agreement with NASA. The European Space Agency (ESA) had previously partnered with Russian space agency Roscosmos on the rover project, but that was suspended following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Now, NASA has formally agreed to contribute launch services and parts of the landing propulsion system to the project, aiming for a 2028 launch.

Read more
NASA selects 9 companies to work on low-cost Mars projects
This mosaic is made up of more than 100 images captured by NASA’s Viking 1 orbiter, which operated around Mars from 1976 to 1980. The scar across the center of the planet is the vast Valles Marineris canyon system.

NASA is expanding its plans for Mars, looking at not only a big, high-budget, long-term project to bring back a sample from Mars but also smaller, lower-cost missions to enable exploration of the red planet. The agency recently announced it has selected nine private companies that will perform a total of 12 studies into small-scale projects for enabling Mars science.

The companies include big names in aerospace like Lockheed Martin and United Launch Services, but also smaller companies like Redwire Space and Astrobotic, which recently landed on the surface of the moon. Each project will get a 12-week study to be completed this summer, with NASA looking at the results to see if it will incorporate any of the ideas into its future Mars exploration plans.

Read more