NASA plans to send two more Ingenuity-class helicopters to Mars in the future.
The success of the Mars Ingenuity helicopter mission has led to that. It may be on its last legs now, but the small rotorcrafts lasted way longer than expected, proving once and for all that using a helicopter on Mars is a more-than- viable way to explore.
The long-term mission of bringing the first Martian sample back to Earth is firmly underway with the deployment of NASA's Perseverance Rover.
Perseverance isn't able to complete the mission on its own. Helicopters from NASA come into play.
A separate rover was supposed to ferry samples between Perseverance and Sample Retrieval. NASA says Perseverance will ferry itself, no extra rover is needed.
Two helicopters will be used to retrieve the samples.
The plan is to have either Perseverance or the helicopter bring Martian rock samples. A small rocket that could become the first object to take off from the Martian surface will be loaded into the landers robotic arm.
The samples will be taken back to our watery world by the Earth Return Orbiter.
NASA doesn't think they'll be back with their loot until at least 2033, so don't expect them to be here soon.
If the samples don't cause a world-ending Martian plague back on Earth, it will be a huge step forward in our understanding of the Red Planet.
China took a close up shot of the moon.
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