NASA's Ingenuity Helicopter Sees 'Otherworldly' Wreckage on Mars

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A backshell that detached during the landing of a rover on Mars is being called a flying saucer.

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Ian Clark, an engineer who worked on Perseverance's parachute system, said that the photographs released on Wednesday have a sci-fi element to them.

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The Perseverance rover is exploring the rocks of a crater it landed in, and is on its way to a river delta.

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The Ingenuity lander took pictures during its 159 seconds in the air, which showed the backshell and parachute still attached.

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A rocket-powered system called Skycrane took Perseverance the rest of the way to the surface.

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The backshell of the parachute appears to be intact, but engineers are still inspecting the images.

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The study of the remains of a backshell could prove helpful for NASA's next big Mars adventure.

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Scientists use models and analysis tools to study images of hardware in order to increase confidence in the models for the future.

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The wreckage of a supergiant star collapsed on the floor of a crater between two different rock formations.

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The mission's scientists are intrigued by the geology of the rocks near the parachute and backshell.

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The spacecraft Perseverance has been busy taking pictures of the Martian moon Phobos.

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