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After three years of service, the NASA Ingenuity helicopter made its last flight on Mars . During its 72nd flight, Ingenuity lost contact with the Perseverance rover. NASA later re-established contact with the helicopter, revealing that at least one of Ingenuity's carbon-fiber blades was damaged during the Jan. 18 landing. The helicopter is upright and still in contact with ground controllers, but it is no longer able to fly.
Ingenuity has significantly exceeded its planned service life. NASA was preparing the helicopter for up to five test flights over 30 days. But it remained in service for more than three years. Ingenuity flew 14 times further than originally expected, with a total flight time of more than two hours.
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The historic journey of Ingenuity, the first aircraft on another planet, has come to an end. This remarkable helicopter flew higher and further than we could have ever imagined and helped NASA make the impossible possible, what we do best. With missions like Ingenuity, NASA is paving the way for future solar system missions and smarter, safer exploration of Mars and beyond.
—statement by NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.
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On January 18, the Ingenuity team planned a short vertical flight to locate the helicopter after it had to make an emergency landing on a previous flight. The helicopter gained a height of 12 m and hovered for 4.5 seconds, after which it began to descend at a speed of 1 m per second. However, he lost contact with Perseverance when he was about a meter above the surface.
It is unclear how the rotor blade was damaged. NASA is investigating whether it hit the surface. Perseverance is too far away to see Ingenuity. The helicopter's own camera recorded damage to the shadow of the rotor blade.
The resilient helicopter survived 3 years in a difficult environment, a non-functional sensor, dust storms (after which it was able to clear itself) and winter on Mars. The Ingenuity team will finalize the helicopter after final testing and loading of the latest data and images from its memory.
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