Mars’ Ingenuity helicopter may be down, but not out with new mission for damaged chopper
NASA's Ingenuity helicopter would fly more than 2 hours on Mars far and above exceeding the original mission goals. After its final flight, the 4-pound chopper will continue to collect data from Mars -- possibly for the next 20 years.
Watch Ingenuity helicopter's 72 flights on Mars
Designed to be a technology demonstration that would take five flights in 30 days, NASA's Ingenuity helicopter eventually flew more than 14 times farther and logged more than two hours of total flight time. This video shows all 72 flights on Mars, including the final flight on Jan. 18, 2024. (Video: NASA/JPL-Caltech)
Even though NASA's Mars helicopter Ingenuity can no longer fly, the small chopper will continue to benefit future missions by acting 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 hello to its new phase. The mission ended on Jan. 25, about a week after a rough landing damaged the aircraft's rotors.
On April 16, the team sent a final transmission to the little helicopter on Mars through NASA's Deep Space Network, marking the last time the team would work together on the innovative mission that exceeded expectations.
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The photo below, taken by NASA's Perseverance rover, shows Ingenuity at its final landing site in an area on Mars known as Valinor Hills.
NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, right, stands near the apex of a sand ripple in an image taken by Perseverance on Feb. 24, about five weeks after the rotorcraft’s final flight. Part of one of Ingenuity’s rotor blades lies on the surface about 49 feet (15 meters) west of helicopter (left of center in the image).
(NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL/CNES/CNRS)
NASA JPL recently released the video at the top of this story showing the flight path of all 72 flights, a historic achievement for the technology demonstration mission that NASA hoped would fly about five times on Mars over 30 days.
Ingenuity landed on Mars on Feb. 18, 2021, attached to NASA's Perseverance rover belly. It took its first flight on April 19, 2021, proving that controlled flight on Mars was achievable. The tiny helicopter would act as Perseverance's scout for the next several years, helping the rover navigate its next moves on Mars.
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Overachieving Ingenuity would log more than 2 hours of flight over three years. The little chopper took its final flight on Jan. 18, which ended in a rough landing, damaging its rotors and concluding its incredible three years of flying on Mars.
"The Mars helicopter would have never flown once, much less 72 times, if it were not for the passion and dedication of the Ingenuity and Perseverance teams," NASA JPL Ingenuity project manager Teddy Tzanetos said in January. "History’s first Mars helicopter will leave behind an indelible mark on the future of space exploration and will inspire fleets of aircraft on Mars – and other worlds – for decades to come."
A map showing all 72 flights of NASA's Ingenuity helicopter on Mars over a three-year period.
(NASA/JPL-Caltech)
With flight no longer an option, NASA said the 4-pound robot would be a stationary testbed for collecting data. Ingenuity will "wake up" daily, take pictures of the Martian surface with its color camera, and take temperature data.
According to NASA, Ingenuity has enough memory for about 20 years of daily data collection.
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According to NASA, these long-term measurements could contribute to the design of future aircraft and other vehicles for Mars. If the rotorcraft's electrical systems fail, causing data collection to end or it to lose power, whatever information Ingenuity has collected will remain stored on the vehicle until someone or something comes to collect it.
"Whenever humanity revisits Valinor Hills — either with a rover, a new aircraft, or future astronauts — Ingenuity will be waiting with her last gift of data, a final testament to the reason we dare mighty things," said Tzanetos. "Thank you, Ingenuity, for inspiring a small group of people to overcome seemingly insurmountable odds at the frontiers of space."