NASA’s Little Helicopter on Mars Logs Final Flight

January 26th, 12:00 PM EST

By NEWSnet Digital Team

Mars Ingenuity helicopter.

MGN via NASA / JPL-Caltech

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (NEWSnet/AP) — NASA’s Mars helicopter had its final flight.

The space agency announced Thursday that the 4-pound chopper named Ingenuity no longer can fly because of rotor-blade damage. Although it remains upright and in contact with flight controllers, its $85 million mission is officially over, officials said.

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Initially intended as a short-term tech demo, Ingenuity has logged 72 flights over three years on Mars. It accumulated more than two hours of flight time, traveling 11 miles. That’s more than 14 times farther than planned, according to NASA. It soared as high as 79 feet (24 meters) and hit speeds of up to 22.4 mph (36 kph).

“While we knew this day was inevitable, it doesn’t make it any easier” to announce the end of the mission, said NASA’s Lori Glaze. “It’s almost an understatement to say that it has surpassed expectations.”

Ingenuity hitched a ride on NASA’s Perseverance rover, landing on Mars in 2021. It served as a scout for the rover and proved powered-flight is possible in the thin Martian atmosphere.

Images beamed this week from its last flight showed that one or more of its blades had damage while landing and may have hit the surface. The blades are no longer usable, according to NASA.

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