During Ingenuity Helicopter’s 33rd flight on Mars, its camera discovered a foreign object that it has not discovered before.
Foreign Object Debris On Mars
The Navcam (helicopter’s navigation camera) footage from the prior flight (32) did not show this foreign item debris. Up until about halfway through the footage, when it slid off the leg and floated back to the Martian surface, the FOD (foreign object debris) is visible in Flight 33 Navcam images.
No signs of vehicle damage can be seen in any of the data from the flight and a post-flight search and transfer, which are all normal.
The Mars 2020 Ingenuity and Perseverance teams are actively investigating the origin of the debris.
