NASA’s Mars helicopter was grounded in 2024 after surprise success

The Ingenuity autonomous helicopter surpassed all expectations to fly dozens of missions over several years on the Red Planet, only stopping this year when an accident damaged one of its rotors

Full Article

Advertisement The Ingenuity autonomous helicopter surpassed all expectations to fly dozens of missions over several years on the Red Planet, only stopping this year when an accident damaged one of its rotors By Matthew Sparkes

20 December 2024

NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter on Mars, snapped by the Perseverance roverNASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter on Mars, snapped by the Perseverance rover NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS A little helicopter finally met its end this year. NASA’s Ingenuity drone made its 72nd and final flight on Mars in January, damaging one of its rotors on landing, concluding one of the most unusual space exploration experiments in recent decades. Read moreNASA’s Ingenuity helicopter has captured over 2200 photographs of Mars Read more NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter has captured over 2200 photographs of Mars Having reached the surface of Mars on the Perseverance rover in 2021, the drone flew missions autonomously because the long delay in radio transmissions between Earth and Mars made direct control impossible.… Advertisement Receive a weekly dose of discovery in your inbox!

We’ll also keep you up to date with New Scientist

events and special offers. To continue reading,

subscribe

today with our introductory offers Existing subscribers Advertisement

Explore the latest news, articles and features

News Free News Free News Subscriber-only News Subscriber-only Trending New Scientist articles Advertisement Download the app

Read more at the source