NASA’s Historic Mars Helicopter Ingenuity Grounded Permanently After 72 Flights – Reuters

By Joey Roulette and Steve Gorman

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – NASA announced on Thursday that its Mars helicopter, Ingenuity, which made history by achieving powered, controlled flight on another planet, will be permanently grounded. This marks the end of a remarkable mission that far surpassed initial expectations after completing numerous flights over the past three years.

The decision to retire Ingenuity came after images sent back to Earth revealed that a portion of one of its rotor blades had broken off following its 72nd and final flight on January 18, rendering it inoperable.

"It is bittersweet that I must announce that Ingenuity, the ‘little helicopter that could’ – and it kept saying, ‘I think I can, I think I can’ – has now taken its last flight on Mars," said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson in a video shared on social media.

Originally intended as a 30-day technology demonstration with a maximum of five short flights, Ingenuity’s mission expanded well beyond what the engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) had anticipated.

Throughout its journey, Ingenuity covered 14 times the distance expected, totaling over two hours and eight minutes of flight time and traveling a distance of 10.5 miles (17 kilometers) across all 72 flights. Its highest altitude reached 78.7 feet (24 meters).

The helicopter was deployed on Mars attached to NASA’s Perseverance rover, which landed three years ago in Jezero Crater, primarily tasked with collecting surface samples for future return to Earth.

Ingenuity’s historic debut took place on April 19, 2021, when it completed a brief takeoff and landing in Mars’ thin atmosphere, a flight lasting 39 seconds. This was celebrated as a significant milestone in interplanetary aviation.

NASA compared Ingenuity’s accomplishment to the Wright brothers’ first controlled flight in December 1903 in North Carolina. Over time, JPL orchestrated increasingly ambitious flights, exploring the helicopter’s capabilities.

The end of Ingenuity’s journey came as JPL began navigating it into a featureless area of Mars, testing its auto-navigational system, which relies on visible landmarks for guidance. During what turned out to be its penultimate flight on January 6, the helicopter made an unexpected landing due to navigational issues.

When controllers attempted a brief vertical flight on January 18 to assess Ingenuity’s location, data indicated that it rose from the ground and hovered momentarily before descending and losing contact with the rover, which serves as its communication link to Earth.

Images sent later by Ingenuity showed damage to its rotor blade, which likely occurred during its last landing. Engineers believe that the lack of visual cues in the surrounding terrain led to a loss of balance, causing the helicopter to tilt and strike the surface.

Resembling a compact box with legs, rotor blades, and solar panels, Ingenuity will now remain idle, transmitting occasional data before contact with the rover is lost as Perseverance continues its mission.

Despite its retirement, NASA officials celebrated Ingenuity’s achievements, highlighting its pioneering role in aerial exploration on Mars and potentially other celestial bodies, like Titan, Saturn’s moon, where a new rotorcraft named Dragonfly is in development.

Designing a helicopter for Martian flight involved significant engineering challenges. Mars has lower gravity than Earth but an atmosphere that is only 1% as dense, complicating flight. Therefore, Ingenuity was equipped with larger rotor blades that spin much faster than would be needed on Earth for a similarly sized craft.

Additionally, the small, lightweight helicopter was designed to endure extreme cold, with nighttime temperatures dropping to as low as 130 degrees below zero Fahrenheit (minus 90 Celsius).

NASA plans to conduct final tests on Ingenuity and retrieve the remaining images stored in its onboard computer.