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’60 Minutes’ reviews first month of life on Mars for Ingenuity helicopter and Perseverance rover

We’ve been deep diving through Perseverance and Ingenuity since before the Mars 2020 mission lifted off from Cape Canaveral last year. Still, seeing NASA’s Mars rover and first-ever helicopter and their first month spent on the red planet still wows us.

Anderson Cooper spoke with the NASA/JPL team behind Perseverance and Ingenuity to recap the seven minutes of terror to key moments and discoveries made so far on Mars.

Two insights stand out to me after viewing the segment. If scientists do not find signs of ancient life on Mars around Jezero crater, scientists will worry that there may not be life anywhere else in the universe. And the landing site (believed to once be a lake) contains boulders which were likely delivered after the lake dried up and a flood occurred.

The Ingenuity helicopter is also super fast compared to the slow-moving Perseverance rover. This just excites the mind even more when imaging what future Mars helicopters could do for discovery and explanation.

Watch the segment below and learn more here.

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