The Perseverance Rover, a NASA creation, has captured an image of its damaged companion, the Ingenuity helicopter, resting on a dune. In the latest photo, the motionless dual-rotor ‘copter can be seen on a sandy dune while the rocky Mars landscape fills the foreground. This photo was taken on Feb. 4, 2024, a little over two weeks after suffering damage that ended its mission.Related: NASA to ‘wiggle’ broken Ingenuity Mars helicopter’s blades to analyze damage
The damage occurred to Ingenuity’s rotors during a flight on Jan. 18 as it landed on a featureless, “bland” patch of sandy Martian landscape. The helicopter typically relies on landscape features such as rocks for navigation, but during its 72nd flight, it lacked visual cues. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is still analyzing the damage to Ingenuity’s blades. Nevertheless, the helicopter’s mission has come to an end as it is no longer capable of flight.Ingenuity arrived on Mars alongside its robotic companion, the Perseverance rover, on Feb. 18, 2021. In April 2021, Ingenuity made history by conducting the first flight of a powered aircraft on another planet. Since then, the Ingenuity-Perseverance duo has been exploring the Jezero Crater, revealing signs of ancient bodies of water that may have supported life billions of years ago. Ingenuity scouted for Perseverance, identifying areas of interest for the rover to explore.The past few weeks have seen NASA and JPL coming to terms with the end of Ingenuity’s groundbreaking mission. Agency leaders have lauded the helicopter and the teams behind it. Teddy Tzanetos, Ingenuity Project Manager at JPL, expressed pride and gratitude during a livestreamed tribute to the helicopter on Jan. 31. He thanked all the individuals involved in the project, praising their dedication and expertise. Tiffany Morgan, NASA’s Mars Exploration Program Deputy Director, acknowledged Ingenuity’s legacy and its potential to inspire future aerial missions on other planets. She also mentioned NASA’s ongoing development of another drone, the nuclear-powered Dragonfly, slated to explore Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, potentially launching in 2028.
