The space agency announced on Thursday that the 4lb (1.8kg) chopper named Ingenuity can no longer fly because of rotor blade damage. The Helicopter has made 72 flight on Mars.
It was originally designed to only complete five flights
Obviously that photo was taken when it landed on a street corner on Mars but even though the little helicopter’s prime mission was targeted to last just 30 days, it remained operational on the Martian surface for nearly three years. Staying aloft for nearly 129 minutes during its 72 Red Planet flights, Ingenuity covered about 17.7 Km of ground, according to the mission’s flight log.
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A simulation before it was sent to Mars most likely. If on Mars, who’s the photographer? Can it set up a selfie camera?
They said this could fly in Mar’s atmosphere, less than 1% of the density of the atmosphere we have on Earth.
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Don’t forget much off the helicopter’s use was spotting terrain to explore for the Perseverance rover which it came with, the rover has cameras too.
There were a number of videos on Youtube which explored the use of both vehicles. This is just one I picked at random about how they got separated.
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This is a shame but at least it lasted far longer than anticipated.
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