NASA’s historic Mars helicopter ‘Ingenuity’ crashes into the Red Planet – abruptly ending the $85 million spacecraft’s three-year mission

NASA’s history-making Ingenuity Mars helicopter has ended its three-year mission on the planet Mars after possibly making an emergency landing during its final flight.

The small helicopter took off on January 18, but contact was made with the command team and when communications were restored, one of the craft’s blades showed damage.

Ingenuity was originally designed to conduct up to five experimental test flights over 30 days when it first landed in 2023.

But the helicopter, which cost $85 million, exceeded expectations with 72 flights and flew more than 14 times further than planned, while recording a total of more than two hours of flight time.

Data showed the helicopter reached a maximum height of 12 meters and hovered for 4.5 seconds before beginning its descent at a speed of 3.3 meters per second during its final fatal flight.

This is a developing story…more updates to come.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said, “The historic journey of Ingenuity, the first aircraft on another planet, has come to an end.

“That remarkable helicopter flew higher and further than we ever imagined and helped 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.”

Ingenuity hovered about three feet above the surface as planned, but lost contact with the Perseverance rover that serves as the helicopter’s communications relay.

The next day, communications were restored and more information about the flight was relayed to NASA JPL ground controllers.

However, an image sent back to NASA revealed damage to the rotor blade.

The spacecraft is upright and communicating with mission control, but NASA suspected more than one blade suffered damage.

“The cause of the loss of communications and the helicopter’s orientation at the time of landing are still under investigation,” NASA said.

NASA’s history-making Ingenuity Mars helicopter has signed off after becoming the first man-made craft to fly on another planet – in what the agency called its ‘Wright Brothers moment’

Ingenuity project manager Teddy Tzanetos said: “It is humbling that Ingenuity not only has a sample of the original Wright Flyer on board, but also that this helicopter followed in its footsteps and proved that flight to another world is possible.

“The Mars Helicopter would never have flown once, let alone 72 times, without the passion and dedication of the Ingenuity and Perseverance teams.

“History’s first Mars helicopter will leave an indelible mark on the future of space exploration and will inspire aircraft fleets on Mars – and other worlds – for decades to come.”

The tissue box-sized plane, which hitched a ride to the Red Planet under the belly of the Perseverance rover, first lifted off the surface on April 19, 2021.

NASA considered the flight a “Wright Brother moment” because it was Earth’s first spacecraft to hover on another planet.

“Just like the Wright brothers did here on Earth at the turn of the last century, Ingenuity has paved the way for future flights in our solar system and is leading the way for smarter, safer human missions to Mars and beyond. Nelson said.

The tissue box-sized plane hitching a ride to the Red Planet beneath the belly of the Perseverance rover (right). The duo broke up on April 6, 2021, but took a selfie to remember their time together

The photo shows Ingenuity four days before it made its maiden flight on April 19, 2021

Perseverance and Ingenuity launched on July 30, 2020 and traveled 239 million miles to Mars, landing in February 2021.

The rover and helicopter survived the “seven minutes of terror” as they endured tumultuous conditions that plagued the spacecraft as it entered the Martian atmosphere and approached the surface.

Perseverance shot through the atmosphere like a bullet at a speed of 20,000 km/h and successfully deployed the sonic parachute that slowed him down to make a soft landing on the surface.

Perseverance landed at the base of an 800-foot-deep crater called Jezero, a former lake that contained water 3.5 billion years ago.

The surface of Mars is littered with craters, but the Jezero crater is special because it has an inflow and outflow channel.

They traveled for two months to the crater where they parted ways.

NASA shared a photo taken by the rover as it looked down at the small helicopter 13 feet away, commemorating one of their last moments together: