NASA’s Historic Mars Helicopter Ingenuity Grounded for Good After 72 Flights

NASA’s Mars Helicopter Ingenuity Grounded After Historic Mission

NASA announced that its Mars helicopter, Ingenuity, has officially been grounded after completing an extraordinary series of flights that surpassed all expectations over the past three years. Ingenuity made history by being the first vehicle to achieve powered, controlled flight on another planet.

The decision to end the mission came after images received from Ingenuity’s 72nd and final flight on January 18 revealed that a piece of one of its rotor blades had broken off. This damage left the helicopter unable to continue flying.

"It is bittersweet to announce that Ingenuity, the ‘little helicopter that could,’ has taken its last flight on Mars," said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson in a video message on social media.

Initially intended as a brief 30-day technology demonstration with no more than five flights, Ingenuity exceeded expectations by soaring 14 times further than planned. Over its 72 flights, it accumulated over two hours of flight time and covered a distance of around 10.5 miles (17 kilometers), reaching a peak altitude of 78.7 feet (24 meters).

Ingenuity was carried to Mars attached to the Perseverance rover, which landed three years ago in Jezero Crater as part of a separate mission focused on surface sample collection for eventual return to Earth.

The helicopter’s first flight took place on April 19, 2021, and lasted 39 seconds, marking a pivotal moment in interplanetary aviation reminiscent of the Wright brothers’ first powered flight in 1903.

Following its inaugural flight, NASA encouraged JPL teams to push Ingenuity’s limits with increasingly ambitious missions. However, the end came after the helicopter was flown into a particularly flat, featureless area of Mars, where it faced challenges in navigational guidance due to the lack of visible landmarks.

Ingenuity experienced an "emergency landing" during its second-to-last flight on January 6, landing more abruptly than intended due to navigation issues. In its final flight, attempts to perform a small vertical ascent resulted in the helicopter losing contact with the rover, which acts as its communication relay with Earth. Subsequent images revealed the damaged rotor blade, which likely broke during the final landing.

Engineers believe the bland terrain contributed to a loss of stability, causing Ingenuity to tilt unexpectedly, leading to the rotor blades contacting the Mars surface.

Despite its grounding, NASA celebrated Ingenuity’s success as a significant step forward for aerial exploration on Mars and other celestial bodies. For instance, the agency is developing a rotorcraft named Dragonfly, intended for exploration of Saturn’s moon Titan.

Developing a helicopter for Mars presented unique engineering challenges. Although Mars has less gravity than Earth, its atmosphere is only 1% as dense, complicating efforts to achieve lift. To counteract this, Ingenuity was designed with larger rotor blades that rotate significantly faster than those of a typical Earth helicopter.

Moreover, the helicopter had to endure extreme temperatures, with nighttime conditions dropping to as low as -130 degrees Fahrenheit (-90 degrees Celsius).

NASA engineers plan to conduct final tests on Ingenuity and download any remaining data from its on-board computer before the helicopter ceases operations altogether.