The unique mission of the Mars helicopter was a huge success, exceeding all expectations. However, NASA’s Ingenuity sustained damage during its final flight, grounding the rotorcraft forever.
The mission of Ingenuity – NASA’s technology demonstrator that arrived on Mars with the rover Perseverance – is officially over, the agency announced on Thursday.
The announcements came just a few days after the vehicle temporarily lost communication with the Perseverance rover which serves as a relay for NASA engineers to communicate with Ingenuity.
On January 18, Ingenuity conducted a short vertical flight to an altitude of 12 meters. When coming back after hovering for a few seconds, the rotorcraft lost contact with the rover just three feet above the surface.
The communication was successfully reestablished the following day and NASA engineers started investigating the incident.
