Mars Ingenuity helicopter may have crashed, but not taken off new mission as damaged helicopter

Although NASA’s Mars Helicopter Ingenuity can no longer fly, the small helicopter will continue to benefit future missions by serving as a data station on the Red Planet.

Last week, the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory engineering team that manages the mission said goodbye to Ingenuity and ushered in its new phase. The mission ended on Jan. 25, about a week after a rough landing damaged the plane’s rotors.

On April 16, the team sent its final transmission via NASA’s Deep Space Network to a small helicopter on Mars, marking the last time the team collaborated on this innovative mission that exceeded expectations.

NASA seeks new ideas for Mars sample return mission due to budget constraints

The photo below, taken by NASA’s Perseverance rover, shows Ingenuity’s final landing site on Mars in a region called Mount Valinor.

NASA JPL recently released the video at the beginning of this article showing the flight paths of all 72 flights, a historic achievement for NASA’s technology demonstration mission, which NASA hopes will fly about five times on Mars in 30 days.

Ingenuity landed on Mars on February 18, 2021, attached to the belly of NASA’s Perseverance rover. It made its first flight on April 19, 2021, proving that controlled flight to Mars is achievable. The small helicopter will serve as Perseverance’s reconnaissance aircraft in the coming years, helping the rover make its next steps on Mars.

Keep moving: NASA Mars helicopter makes 40th flight

The remarkable “ingenuity” will complete the flight of more than 2 hours in three years. The small helicopter’s final flight on January 18 ended with a rough landing that damaged its rotors, ending its incredible three-year run on Mars.

“Without the passion and dedication of the Ingenuity and Perseverance teams, the Mars Helicopter would not have flown even once, let alone 72 times,” Teddy Tzanetos, NASA JPL Ingenuity project manager, said in January. “The first Mars Helicopter in history will not fly at all, let alone 72 times.” “Leaving an indelible mark on the future of space exploration and inspiring aircraft fleets on Mars and other worlds for decades to come.”

A map showing all 72 flights of NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter to Mars over three years.

(NASA/Caltech Jet Propulsion Laboratory)

With flying no longer an option, NASA said the 4-pound robot will become a stationary test bed for collecting data. Ingenuity will “wake up” every day, take pictures of the Martian surface with a color camera, and obtain temperature data.

According to NASA, Ingenuity has enough memory for approximately 20 years of daily data collection.

Life has not been found yet, but perseverance has achieved results

According to NASA, these long-term measurements could help in the design of future aircraft and other Mars vehicles. If the rotorcraft’s electrical system malfunctions, resulting in the end of data collection or a power outage, any information collected by Ingenuity will remain on the aircraft until someone or something comes to collect it.

“Whenever humans revisit Mount Valinor – whether with a rover, a new aircraft or future astronauts – Ingenuity will be waiting with her final gift of data,” Zanetos said. The final proof of why we dare to do great things. “Thank you, Ingenuity, for inspiring a small group of people to overcome seemingly insurmountable odds on the frontier of space. “