Photograph of a Helicopter and a Rover from a Spacecraft orbiting Mars.

Posted by u/paulhammond5155, Top contributor – linkage

Photograph of a Helicopter and a Rover from a Spacecraft orbiting Mars at an altitude of 279 km (173.4 miles) on September 24 2021, Local Mars time 15:30.

After a dramatic landing in February, the Perseverance rover and its Helicopter sidekick was re-imaged by HiRISE about 700 meters (2300 feet) from its original landing site. The rover doesn’t drive in a straight line though, and has covered much more ground than that (faint wheel tracks on the nearby ground are visible). HiRISE images like this one allow the rover team to choose the best route to get to their primary target and help put the rover’s observations in context within Jezero Crater.

The distance between the rover and the helicopter when this image was taken on September 24th was 175 meters (574 feet)

MRO Spacecraft altitude 279.0 km (173.4 miles)

Original image scale range from 28.8 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) to 57.6 cm/pixel (with 2 x 2 binning)

Map projected scale 25 cm/pixel and North is up

Raw images: www.uahirise.org/ESP_071077_1985

Viewed and cropped with HiView software from the 390 Mb HiRISE image

The HiRISE camera is onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) that’s been orbiting and imaging Mars for 15 years.

The HiRISE camera was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corporation and is operated by the University of Arizona.

Image Credit : NASA/JPL/University of Arizona