NASA's Ingenuity Helicopter Mission Ends after 3 Years on Mars

While the helicopter remains upright and in communication with ground controllers, imagery of its 72nd flight on Mars on Jan. 18 sent to Earth indicates one or more of its rotor blades sustained damage during landing, and it is no longer capable of flight, according to NASA.

The helicopter arrived at Mars' Jezero Crater on Feb. 18, 2021, attached to the belly of NASA's Perseverance rover. The helicopter is a technology demonstration to test powered flight on another planet for the first time.

Originally designed as a technology demonstration to perform up to five experimental test flights over 30 days, Ingenuity operated from the Martian surface for almost three years, performed 72 flights, and flew more than 14 times farther than planned while logging more than two hours of total flight time, according to NASA.

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