Ingenuity helicopter. Photo: NASA
NASA's famed Ingenuity helicopter has completed its mission on the Red Planet after exceeding expectations and flying dozens more flights than planned. According to images sent back to Earth, one or more of the helicopter's propeller blades were damaged during its final flight on January 18th during landing. As a result, it is no longer capable of flying.
This was reported by the NASA press service.
As data received from Mars showed, the helicopter was damaged during the last, 72nd flight to Mars, which took place on January 18. Then the aircraft rose to a height of 12 meters, hung in the air for about 4.5 seconds, and then began to descend. When the helicopter was at an altitude of 1 meter above the surface of Mars, NASA scientists lost contact with it. It was soon restored, and subsequent data and images transmitted by Ingenuity to Earth showed that an accident had occurred. Scientists suggest that not even one, but several blades of the main rotor could have been damaged.
Ingenuity helicopter. Photo: NASA
Now that the flights are complete, the Ingenuity team will conduct final tests of the helicopter's systems and download remaining images and data to Ingenuity's onboard memory. The Perseverance rover is currently too far away to attempt to photograph the helicopter at its final airfield.
The Ingenuity helicopter was designed as a technology demonstrator to perform up to five experimental test flights over 30 days. However, it operated on the Martian surface for nearly three years, completing 72 flights and traveling 14 times the distance planned.
“The historic journey of Ingenuity, the first spacecraft to land on another planet, has come to an end,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.
“This remarkable helicopter flew higher and further than we could have imagined, and helped NASA do what we do best – make the impossible possible. With missions like Ingenuity, NASA is paving the way for future flights in the solar system and smarter, safer human exploration on Mars and beyond,” he added.
NASA recalled that Ingenuity landed on Mars on February 18, 2021. It was attached to the bottom of NASA's Perseverance rover, and first lifted off the planet's surface on April 19, proving that controlled flight on Mars is possible. After making four more flights, it embarked on a new mission, acting as an aerial reconnaissance vehicle for scientists. In 2023, the helicopter conducted successful flight tests that further expanded the team's knowledge of its aerodynamic capabilities. And in April, it set a flight range record, covering a distance of 322.2 meters in 145.7 seconds.