ReutersThe Ingenuity in action on Mars
NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 02:15
After three years, the mission of the NASA helicopter Ingenuity on the planet Mars has come to an end. According to the space agency, the aircraft suffered damage to one or more rotor blades during a landing and can no longer fly.
Ingenuity arrived on the planet in February 2021 with Mars rover Perserverance. The aircraft was actually supposed to make five test flights in thirty days, but there were many more.
Since April 2021, when the unmanned helicopter became the first aircraft to fly on another planet, 72 flights have been completed. Ingenuity thus flew fourteen times further than planned.
NASA emphasizes that Ingenuity’s mission was a resounding success and that expectations were far exceeded.
Perseverance continues
“Ingenuity’s historic journey has come to an end,” said Bill Nelson of the US space agency. “Through missions like this, NASA is paving the way for future flights in our solar system and for smarter, safer human exploration to Mars and beyond.”
According to the BBC the end of the Ingenuity isn’t a bad one. The Perseverance will be making some long, fast runs into the Jezero crater in the near future, and for the Ingenuity, keeping up with the rover would probably have been a bridge too far.
2024-01-26 01:15:34
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