BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – NASA’s groundbreaking Ingenuity Mars Helicopter has concluded its mission on the Red Planet, surpassing expectations and exceeding its planned number of flights, NASA announced Thursday.
Ingenuity touched down on Mars on Feb. 18, 2021, attached to NASA’s Perseverance rover.
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NASA said although the helicopter maintains an upright position and stays in communication with ground controllers, recent imagery from its Jan. 18 flight indicates damage to one or more rotor blades during landing, rendering it incapable of further flight.
Originally conceived as a technology demonstration for up to five experimental test flights over 30 days, this pioneering aircraft operated from the Martian surface for almost three years.
“The historic journey of Ingenuity, the first aircraft on another planet, has come to end,” said Bill Nelson, NASA administrator. “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.”
The agency said not only has Ingenuity completed an impressive 72 flights but it also covered more than 14 times the initially planned distance, accumulating over two hours of total flight time.
Ingenuity’s inaugural liftoff from the Martian surface was on April 19, 2021. After an additional four flights, it transitioned into a new role as an operations demonstration, functioning as an aerial scout for Perseverance scientists and rover drivers.
In 2023, the helicopter executed two successful flight tests, contributing valuable insights into its aerodynamic capabilities.
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