Shocking photo of NASA’s Ingenuity crashing on Mars

Rover Perseverance arrived at Mars on February 18, 2021 with the mission of searching for traces of life that would date back 3 billion years.

To help with this task, Perseverance traveled in her “belly” sa “engineering marvel” according to NASA. A small helicopter or drone nicknamed “Ingenuity” aims to show that helicopter flight is possible and use that information for future missions.

NASA’s historic Ingenuity Mars helicopter ended its mission to the Red Planet after exceeding expectations and making dozens more flights than planned. Although the helicopter remains upright and communicates with ground controllers, Images of its Jan. 18 flight sent back to Earth this week indicate that one or more of its rotor blades were damaged during landing and it is no longer capable of flight.

Originally designed as a technology demonstration to conduct up to five experimental test flights within 30 daysthe first plane in another world operated from the surface of Mars for nearly three years, making 72 flybys and flying more than 14 times further than planned while logging more than two hours of total flight time. While he was upright and communicating with ground controllers, images of his Jan. 18 flight sent back to Earth this week indicate that one or more of his rotor blades suffered damage during the landing and he is no longer able to fly.

The historic journey of Ingenuity, the first aircraft on another planet, has come to an end,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “This extraordinary helicopter flew higher and further than we ever imagined, helping NASA do what we do best: make the impossible possible.” “Through missions like Ingenuity, NASA is paving the way for future flights in our solar system and smarter, safer human exploration to Mars and beyond.”

Distance will also be a problem for a small boat. The robot will not be able to be controlled by a regular controller due to communication delays, so the commands will have to be sent well in advance, and the data collected from each movement will also have a significant delay in reaching Earth.

Adverse climatic and logistical conditions will test the design of the aircraft and the investment of 80 million dollars intended to build it. However, when we think about the difficulties, The responsible engineers decided to give autonomy to the drone, which will be able to make decisions on its own based on parameters detected from Earth, it analyzes the territory through built-in sensors.

Ingenuity landed on Mars on February 18, 2021, docked with the belly of NASA’s Perseverance rover, and lifted off from the Martian surface for the first time on April 19. to demonstrate that controlled, powered flight was possible on Mars. After completing four more flights, it embarked on a new operational demonstration mission, serving as an aerial scout for Perseverance scientists and rover drivers. In 2023, the helicopter performed two successful flight tests that further expanded the team’s knowledge of its aerodynamic limits.

“At NASA JPL, innovation is at the heart of what we do,” Leshin said. “Ingenuity is an example of how we push the boundaries of what is possible every day. “I’m incredibly proud of our team behind this historic technological achievement and look forward to what they come up with next.”

The Ingenuity team planned for the helicopter to make a short vertical flight on January 18 to determine its position after making an emergency landing on a previous flight. The data shows that, according to the plan, the helicopter reached a maximum height of 12 meters and hovered for 4.5 seconds before descending at a rate of 3.3 feet per second (1 meter per second).

Approximately 1 meter above the surface Ingenuity lost contact with the rover, which serves as a communications relay for the helicopter. The following day, communications were restored and additional flight information was relayed to ground controllers at NASA’s JPL. A few days later, pictures arrived revealing damage to the rotor blade. The cause of the communication breakdown and the orientation of the helicopter at the time of landing are still under investigation.

During an extended mission that lasted nearly 1,000 Martian days, more than 33 times longer than originally plannedIngenuity was updated with the ability to autonomously select landing sites in treacherous terrain, confront a dead sensor, clean up after dust storms, operate from 48 different airfields, make three emergency landings, and survive the frigid Martian winter.

Designed for spring running, Ingenuity was unable to power its heaters overnight during the coldest parts of the winter, causing the flight computer to freeze and reboot periodically. These power “blackouts” required the team to redesign Ingenuity’s winter operation to continue flying.

Once flight operations are complete, the Ingenuity team will perform final tests of the helicopter’s systems and download the remaining images and data to Ingenuity’s on-board memory. The Perseverance rover is currently too far away to attempt to take images of the helicopter at its final airport.

“It’s humbling that Ingenuity not only carried a sample of the original Wright Flyer, but that this helicopter followed in its footsteps and showed that flight is possible on another world,” said Ingenuity Project Director Teddy Tzanetos of NASA JPL. “The Mars helicopter would never have flown once, let alone 72 times, without the passion and dedication of the Ingenuity and Perseverance teams. “The first ever helicopter on Mars will leave an indelible mark on the future of space exploration and inspire fleets of aircraft on Mars (and other worlds) for decades to come.”.

Ingenuity Mars helicopter It was built by NASA JPL, which also manages the project for NASA headquarters. It has the support of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. NASA Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley and NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia provided critical flight performance analysis and technical assistance in the development of Ingenuity. AeroVironment Inc., Qualcomm and SolAero also provided design assistance and critical vehicle components. Lockheed Space designed and manufactured the Mars Helicopter Delivery System.

At NASA headquarters, Dave Lavery is the program manager for the Ingenuity Mars helicopter.