Rover, Helicopter Locations in Jezero Crater

This map shows the locations of NASA’ Perseverance rover (white star) and Ingenuity Mars Helicopter (cyan star) on Dec. 19, 2023, the 1,007th Martian day, or sol, of the rover’s mission at Mars. During that sol, the rover conducted science operations in an area the team calls “Gnaraloo Bay,” while Ingenuity conducted flights 68 and 69 in “Neretva Vallis,” a lower-elevation, flatter area (top left).

The dots along the white line indicate the stops made by the rover beginning with Sept. 28, 2023, or Sol 927 (lower right). Ingenuity airfields are indicated by dots along the cyan line, starting with Sept. 11, 2023, or Sol 910 (also lower right).

Ingenuity flights 68 and 69 consisted of a system identification, or “Sys-ID,” test campaign. Sys-ID is a data-driven method for understanding the complex behavior of a system by studying how specific inputs impact the motion of the vehicle.

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed for the agency by Caltech in Pasadena, California, built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover.

The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter was built by JPL, which manages the project for NASA Headquarters. It is supported by NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley and NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, provided significant flight performance analysis and technical assistance during Ingenuity’s development. AeroVironment Inc., Qualcomm, and SolAero also provided design assistance and major vehicle components. Lockheed Martin Space designed and manufactured the Mars Helicopter Delivery System.