In January, NASA announced that the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter's mission was over due to damage to one of its rotor blades during landing. Now, the Perseverance rover has captured images of the helicopter and the damage it sustained.
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| (Image: Google) |
Initially, Ingenuity was designed for five test flights over 30 days. It made history as the first vehicle to fly on another planet and surpassed expectations by completing 72 flights over three years.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson expressed pride in Ingenuity's achievements and highlighted NASA's commitment to future exploration. The damaged blade lies about 15 meters away from the helicopter. Simeon Schmauß, a geovisual designer, created a mosaic from images taken by Perseverance, showing both the helicopter and the distant blade.
The accident occurred on January 18 during a short vertical hop intended to determine the helicopter's location after an earlier emergency landing. Ingenuity reached a height of 12 meters before descending rapidly. Ground controllers lost communication when it was about one meter above the surface. Perseverance observed the damage, but NASA is still investigating the exact cause.
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