After three years on Mars, NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter mission ends

NASA’s history-making Ingenuity Mars Helicopter has ended its mission on the Purple Planet after surpassing expectations and making dozens extra flights than deliberate. Whereas the helicopter stays upright and in communication with floor controllers, imagery of its Jan. 18 flight despatched to Earth this week signifies a number of of its rotor blades sustained harm throughout touchdown and it’s now not able to flight.

Initially designed as a know-how demonstration to carry out as much as 5 experimental check flights over 30 days, the primary plane on one other world operated from the Martian floor for nearly three years, carried out 72 flights, and flew greater than 14 occasions farther than deliberate whereas logging greater than two hours of total flight time.

“The historic journey of Ingenuity, the primary plane on one other planet, has come to finish,” stated NASA Administrator Invoice Nelson. “That exceptional helicopter flew greater and farther than we ever imagined and helped NASA do what we do finest—make the unimaginable, attainable. Via missions like Ingenuity, NASA is paving the best way for future flight in our solar system and smarter, safer human exploration to Mars and past.”

Ingenuity landed on Mars Feb. 18, 2021, hooked up to the stomach of NASA’s Perseverance rover and first lifted off the Martian floor on April 19, proving that powered, managed flight on Mars was attainable. After notching one other 4 flights, it launched into a brand new mission as an operations demonstration, serving as an aerial scout for Perseverance scientists and rover drivers. In 2023, the helicopter executed two profitable flight exams that additional expanded the crew’s data of its aerodynamic limits.

“At NASA JPL, innovation is on the coronary heart of what we do,” stated Leshin. “Ingenuity is an exemplar of the best way we push the boundaries of what is attainable each day. I am extremely pleased with our crew behind this historic technological achievement and desirous to see what they will invent subsequent.”

Ingenuity’s crew deliberate for the helicopter to make a brief vertical flight on Jan. 18 to find out its location after executing an emergency landing on its earlier flight. Information reveals that, as deliberate, the helicopter achieved a most altitude of 40 toes (12 meters) and hovered for 4.5 seconds earlier than beginning its descent at a velocity of three.3 toes per second (1 meter per second).

Nonetheless, about 3 toes (1 meter) above the floor, Ingenuity misplaced contact with the rover, which serves as a communications relay for the rotorcraft. The next day, communications had been reestablished and extra details about the flight was relayed to floor controllers at NASA JPL. Imagery revealing harm to the rotor blade arrived a number of days later. The reason for the communications dropout and the helicopter’s orientation at time of landing are nonetheless being investigated.

Triumphs, challenges

Over an prolonged mission that lasted for nearly 1,000 Martian days, greater than 33 occasions longer than initially deliberate, Ingenuity was upgraded with the power to autonomously select touchdown websites in treacherous terrain, handled a lifeless sensor, cleaned itself after dust storms, operated from 48 totally different airfields, carried out three emergency landings, and survived a frigid Martian winter.

Designed to function in spring, Ingenuity was unable to energy its heaters all through the evening throughout the coldest components of winter, ensuing within the flight pc periodically freezing and resetting. These energy “brownouts” required the crew to revamp Ingenuity’s winter operations to be able to hold flying.