It was supposed to last 30 days, but it lasted 3 years. The sudden end of NASA’s extraordinary mission on Mars

The experimental Mars helicopter was intended to prove that flights in the extremely thin Martian atmosphere were possible. This task was 100 percent completed. Ingenuity became the first aircraft in history to enter the atmosphere (using lift, not rocket engines) on a planet other than Earth.

End of the Ingenuity mission. The Martian helicopter was damaged

Unfortunately, now the story of this unusual drone is coming to an end. NASA unexpectedly announced the end of the Ingenuity mission on Thursday. The reason is simple. A small helicopter was damaged and will not be able to rise above the Martian surface again.

American comic agency, “one or more” rotor blades were damaged, which most likely happened during the last landing of the drone on January 18 this year. (Flight No. 72). Last Friday, NASA also reported that shortly before landing, engineers on Earth suddenly lost communication with the vehicle about a meter above the surface (communication was regained the next day). It was a short check flight that was supposed to allow engineers to determine the ship’s location after the emergency landing that ended the penultimate flight of the helicopter (No. 71).

The damage was noticed only in photographs taken by Ingenuity on the surface of Mars. On one of them, the shadow of the jagged tip of one of the rotor blades is clearly visible. NASA researchers point out that the Mars helicopter is currently resting on its own legs in a vertical position, which means that the landing was partially successful. Communication with the helicopter is still maintained, but it will no longer be able to perform further flights. The causes of the failure are still under investigation.

These salts [marsjańskie dni – red.] They won’t be the same without the Mars helicopter. Thanks to Ingenuity for being my exploration partner [Marsa – red.] from the beginning

– written on the X platform on the channel dedicated to the Perseverance rover.

The beautiful story of Ingenuity. He was supposed to work for a month, but he lasted three years

Ingenuity was sent to the Red Planet as part of the Mars 2020 mission. It landed on Mars attached to the bottom of the Mars Perseverance rover on February 18, 2021. Scientists spent the next weeks disassembling the helicopter, checking all systems and preparing it for flight. and hovered for about 40 seconds, proving that flights in the Martian atmosphere (one hundred times thinner than Earth’s) are possible.

When sending Ingenuity to Mars, NASA wanted to conduct only five test flights, and the entire mission was planned to be completed after a month. Ultimately, the drone lasted on Mars for almost three years and made 72 successful flights. The agency concluded that Ingenuity’s total time in the air was more than two hours, and that the helicopter covered more than 14 times its planned distance.

The historic journey of Ingenuity, the first aircraft on another planet, has come to an end. This extraordinary 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 flights in our solar system and smarter, safer human exploration of Mars and beyond. [obiektów – red.]

– said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.

Thanks to the experience gained during the Ingenuity mission, NASA scientists will be able to build further, larger and more advanced drones that will fly to Mars as part of subsequent space missions. In the Martian future, helicopters may become skyward “eyes” for new generation rovers or even astronauts who will appear on the Red Planet as part of the Artemis manned missions planned by NASA for the third decade of this century.