NASA’s Ingenuity Helicopter Ends Historic Mission on Mars After 72 Flights

KOMPAS.com – NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter, which has made flight history on Mars, has finally ended its mission on the planet.

The helicopter was retired after exceeding expectations and making dozens more flights than planned.

Also read: NASA’s Ingenuity Helicopter Celebrates 70th Flight on Mars

Although the helicopter remained functional and communicated with controllers on the ground, flight images sent to Earth on January 18 apparently showed one or more of its rotor blades had been damaged during landing and was no longer capable of flying.

Flight on Mars

Quoting Phys, Friday (26/1/2024) the helicopter was initially designed as a technology demonstration to carry out up to five experimental test flights over 30 days.

However, the first helicopter on another world actually operated on the surface of Mars for almost 3 years, made 72 flights, and flew more than 14 times farther than planned.

“The historic journey of Ingenuity, the first helicopter on another planet, has come to an end,” said Bill Nelson, NASA Administrator.

“These extraordinary helicopters fly higher and farther than we ever imagined and help NASA do what it does best, making the impossible possible. “Through missions like Ingenuity, NASA is paving the way for future flights in our Solar System and smarter, safer human exploration of Mars and beyond,” he said again.

Ingenuity landed on Mars on February 18, 2021 aboard NASA’s Perseverance rover and first lifted off from the surface of Mars on April 19.

The Ingenuity mission proves that powered, controlled flight on Mars is possible.

Also read: NASA’s Ingenuity Helicopter Aims at the Damaged Debris That Carried It to Mars

After making four flights, Ingenuity began a new mission as an operational demonstration serving as an aerial reconnaissance for Perseverance scientists and rover drivers.

In 2023, the helicopter successfully carried out two test flights that further expanded the team’s knowledge of its aerodynamic limits.

Lost contact

The Ingenuity team plans for the helicopter to make a short vertical flight on January 18 to determine its location after making an emergency landing on the previous flight.

Data shows that, according to plan, the helicopter reached a maximum height of 12 meters and hovered for 4.5 seconds before starting to descend at a speed of 1 meter per second.

However, about 1 meter above the surface, Ingenuity lost contact with Perseverance, which functions as a communication relay for the helicopter rotor.

The next day, communications were re-established and further information about the flight was relayed to ground controllers at NASA.

Images showing damage to the rotor blades emerged several days later. The cause of the loss of communication and the orientation of the helicopter when landing are still being investigated.

Also read: NASA Extends Ingenuity Helicopter Mission to Mars, What’s Its Task?

With the completion of flight operations, the Ingenuity team will conduct final tests on the helicopter systems and download the remaining imagery and data in Ingenuity’s internal memory. The Perseverance rover is currently too far away to attempt helicopter images of its final airfield.

The first Mars helicopter in history will leave an indelible mark on the future of space exploration and will inspire probes on Mars and other worlds for decades to come.

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2024-01-28 06:00:00
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