NASA’s Mars helicopter can no longer fly. This was announced by the US space agency. The miniature unmanned drone Ingenuity, which translates to “Ingenuity,” completes its mission, which lasted much longer than planned.
In 2021, Ingenuity became the first powered drone to fly on another planet.
Ingenuity made a “crash landing” on its penultimate flight. And when he flew for the last time on January 18, he lost contact with his base – the Perseverance rover, or Perseverance.
Ingenuity made its debut flight in April 2021. Then he circled the surface of Mars for 39 seconds.
The helicopter weighed 1.8 kilograms. It flew on solar power to help conduct aerial exploration of the Red Planet. It also helped scout targets for the Perseverance rover, thanks to its tiny on-board camera.
According to NASA, the helicopter operated for almost 1,000 Martian days, including the cold winter seasons.
