What's really exciting about the drive down the slope of the Neretva riverbank is that at some point along the way, maybe within a week or two from now, the rover will be visible by #Ingenuity's RTE camera, at the top right corner of an RTE image, as seen in this graphic by @stim3on where I marked a possible appearance with "future Perseverance".
@PaulHammond51 During the Martian winter the heli is expected to experience brown-outs, like it did previously. So, it will not actually be preserving much energy by not transmitting a beacon every once in a while; most of it's energy is spent in keeping the electronics warm at night. How that fares is an important matter for future Mars helicopters, I believe.
Also, it doesn't hurt to be a little optimistic. It gives us reasons to post things :-)
@Undertow
Yes, #WANDY !
Thanks for sharing the link for this very interesting and indeed, very informative live interview.
Travis Brown has offered more info that I've heard from the team for a long while.
It looks like #Perseverance has placed its robotic arm back in the stowed position, meaning we may see the rover moving again. So what? (More in alt text)
EDIT: Nope, not stowed. See 🧵 🔽
Here's 2 pixels of glorious #Ingenuity in the latest NAVCAM mosaic: 😀
Processed, undistorted NAVCAM_RIGHT mosaic
looking WNW (300°) from RMC 51.0000
Sol 1090, LMST: 10:52:25
But "post mortem"? Although it helps add some drama, rumors about #Ingenuity's death have been greatly exaggerated 😀.
I see Perseverance tuning in every morning to listen to Ingenuity's transmissions (like a track driver tuned to an AM radio station in the '70s) while climbing up the hills south of the Neretva Vallis Bend.
#Ingenuity managed to move its blades more this time, on Sol 1055. The team wants to assess the damage it suffered after the eventful #Flight72 that brought an end to its flying on Mars.
Animation
"We Are Not Dead Yet". Ingenuity team's moto, per Teddy Tzanetos, PM
Rotated for north up HELI_NAV
Image captured from RMC 72.0001/803
Sol 1055, LMST: 09:07:40
As I hoped before (https://mastodon.social/@65dBnoise/111823379796757059), he said that they are going to first wiggle the rotor and take a movie (!) of the action, and then slowly spin the rotors to bring the other two blades into view that haven't been visible so far and assess their condition.