After damaging a rotor blade, NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter mission ends on Mars

 

After completing 72 historic flights on Mars over three years, NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter mission has ended. After damaging a rotor blade, NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter mission ends on Mars After completing 72 historic flights on Mars over three years, NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter mission has ended. Originally designed as an experiment, Ingenuity became the first aircraft to operate and fly on another world, lifting off on April 19, 2021. Imagery and data returned to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, showed that one or more of the chopper’s carbon fiber rotor blades was damaged while landing during its final flight this month. The team determined that the helicopter is no longer able to fly, according to the space agency. Ingenuity, which had traveled to Mars as the Perseverance rover’s trusty sidekick, is sitting upright on the surface of the red planet, and mission controllers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory have been able to maintain communications with the rotorcraft. The NASA mission team only expected the chopper to carry out five test flights in 30 days. After acing its five expected flights, Ingenuity graduated from its role as an experiment to serving as an aerial scout for the Perseverance rover. The chopper flew over areas of scientific interest to capture images and help the mission team determine Perseverance’s next targets for detailed analysis. The helicopter carried out its final flight on January 18. Together, the rover and helicopter spent the past few years exploring Jezero Crater, the site of an ancient lake and river delta on Mars. Scientists are hoping that samples collected by Perseverance, which will be returned to Earth by future missions, could determine whether life ever existed on the red planet. The historic journey of Ingenuity, the first aircraft on another planet, has come to end,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, in a statement. “That remarkable helicopter flew higher and farther than we ever imagined and helped NASA do what we do best — make the impossible, possible. Through missions like Ingenuity, NASA is paving the way for future flight in our solar system and smarter, safer human exploration to Mars and beyond.” Apart from achieving the first Wright brothers moment on another planet, Ingenuity logged many milestones. It flew 14 times farther and 33 times longer than planned, logging more than 2 hours of flight time. “At NASA JPL, innovation is at the heart of what we do,” said Laurie Leshin, director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in a statement. “Ingenuity is an exemplar of the way we push the boundaries of what’s possible every day. I’m incredibly proud of our team behind this historic technological achievement and eager to see what they’ll invent next.” As the first space helicopter, Ingenuity has been compared with the Wright Flyer, the first heavier-than-air, powered aircraft to fly successfully on Earth in 1903. The Wright Flyer flew four times on its first day of flight before being blown over and broken by the wind, Leshin said. The feat is still considered one of humanity’s greatest achievements, and now Ingenuity joins the Wright Flyer as a history-making aircraft that has proved new capabilities. It's humbling Ingenuity not only carries onboard a swatch from the original Wright Flyer, but also this helicopter followed in its footsteps and proved flight is possible on another world,” said Teddy Tzanetos, Ingenuity’s project manager at JPL, in a statement.emarkable helicopter flew higher and farther than we ever imagined and helped NASA do what we do best — make the impossible, possible. Through missions like Ingenuity, NASA is paving the way for future flight in our solar system and smarter, safer human exploration to Mars and beyond.”

Apart from achieving the first Wright brothers moment on another planet, Ingenuity logged many milestones. It flew 14 times farther and 33 times longer than planned, logging more than 2 hours of flight time.

“At NASA JPL, innovation is at the heart of what we do,” said Laurie Leshin, director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in a statement. “Ingenuity is an exemplar of the way we push the boundaries of what’s possible every day. I’m incredibly proud of our team behind this historic technological achievement and eager to see what they’ll invent next.”

As the first space helicopter, Ingenuity has been compared with the Wright Flyer, the first heavier-than-air, powered aircraft to fly successfully on Earth in 1903. The Wright Flyer flew four times on its first day of flight before being blown over and broken by the wind, Leshin said. The feat is still considered one of humanity’s greatest achievements, and now Ingenuity joins the Wright Flyer as a history-making aircraft that has proved new capabilities. It's humbling Ingenuity not only carries onboard a swatch from the original Wright Flyer, but also this helicopter followed in its footsteps and proved flight is possible on another world,” said Teddy Tzanetos, Ingenuity’s project manager at JPL, in a statement.