Communication loss occurred on January 18 during the 72nd flight of Ingenuity
On its 72nd mission, the Ingenuity rover lost contact with engineers on Earth, NASA said. The connection failure occurred on Thursday, January 18, when the Ingenuity helicopter was completing its flight.
NASA officials shared information received before the communication interruption: «Data transmitted from Ingenuity to the Perseverance rover, which acts as a link between the helicopter and the Earth, shows that Ingenuity successfully climbed to its maximum planned height of 12 meters». They added that during the planned descent, communication between the helicopter and the rover was interrupted earlier than expected.
Ingenuity and its companion, the Perseverance rover, arrived on the Red Planet together in February 2021. Perseverance is searching for signs of past life and collecting samples for further delivery to Earth. In turn, the Ingenuity helicopter served as a reconnaissance helicopter, helping the rover in its mission.
Ingenuity spent a total time in the air of more than 128 minutes and flew a distance of 17.7 kilometers during its 72 flights, according to the mission log. However, it remains unclear at this time whether these numbers will continue to increase.
Representatives from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which manages the missions of both robots, said: «Perseverance is currently out of Ingenuity's field of view, but we are considering the possibility of getting closer for a visual inspection».
The Ingenuity team is now analyzing the data and planning the next steps to restore communication with the helicopter. It is unclear whether researchers will be able to reestablish contact with Ingenuity and continue its exploration mission in the Martian atmosphere.