Now, NASA engineers are investigating the rotorcrafts final flight, to better understand the circumstances of its end.
Ingenuity broke records on Mars, with the Perseverance rover capturingmind-blowing videoas it flew above the Martian surface.
Ingenuity surpassed all expectations during its three-year tenure.
A shot of Ingenuity’s damaged wing on January 18, 2024.Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Ingenuity ultimately operated for nearly three years and performed 72 flights over that span.
In other words, a crash landing that likely made Ingenuity pitch and roll on a sandy Martian slope.
That snapped the rotor blades, with one blade completely separating from the helicopter.
Ingenuity (right) and its separated rotor blade (left), about 50 feet apart. Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL/CNES/CNRS
Ingenuity was the beginning of a hopefully fruitful investigation of the cosmos using powered, controlled aircraft.
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