The dreaded end of Ingenuity’s mission has arrived. NASA’s small helicopter flew for the last time on Mars. It is now too damaged to continue circling near the Perseverance rover.
His 72nd flight will forever be his last. Ingenuity, NASA’s helicopter on Mars, will never be able to fly again. The American space agency has announcement on the evening of January 25, 2024 that his aircraft was too damaged to hope to continue flying it in the sky of the red planet. A few days earlier, we learned that NASA had already had a scare with its Martian helicopter. Now it is clear that his mission is complete.
“ NASA’s Ingenuity Martian helicopter has completed its mission to the Red Planet after exceeding expectations and completing dozens more flights than planned », Indicates the agency in a press release. NASA explains that Ingenuity is still standing and able to communicate with Earth.
The Perseverance rover’s faithful companion on Mars is now grounded
However, images received after its last flight, which occurred on January 18, show that Ingenuity is very damaged. “ One or more of its rotor blades were damaged during landing and […] he is no longer able to fly. »
In the following image, the tip of one of the helicopter’s blades actually appears to have broken, ” after the crash landing at the end of its 72nd flight, comments the doctor in planetology Thomas Appéré on X. It seems that we see pieces of carbon fiber on the ground. »
Ingenuity, NASA’s tireless Martian helicopter
Ingenuity had been deposited on Mars by the Perseverance rover, which it accompanied in its wanderings on the planet. Both landed together on Mars in February 2021. Then, in April of the same year, Ingenuity flew to Mars for the very first time. “ The grounds [ndlr : jours sur Mars] will not be the same without the Martian helicopter “, commented the NASA X account dedicated to the Perseverance mission.
The end of the mission of the little flying robot is far from being a failure for NASA. On the contrary, Ingenuity has far exceeded all expectations. Originally, it was only supposed to attempt to ascend into the Martian atmosphere a maximum of 5 times. Its survival on Mars was only estimated at around thirty days. While it was only intended to serve as a technology demonstrator, proving the possibility of flight on another planet, Ingenuity had become a scout for Perseverance.
“ The first aircraft on another planet operated from the Martian surface for nearly 3 years, completed 72 flights, and flew more than 14 times farther than planned, while logging a total of more than 2 hours of flight time », Summarizes NASA in its press release.
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