NASA showed the latest photo of the Ingenuity helicopter on Mars – Kommersant

NASA published photo taken from the Perseverance rover showing the shadow of the Ingenuity helicopter that broke down on January 18. This is apparently the last photo of Ingenuity, since according to the plan, the rover will only move away from the location of the aircraft in the future.

Communication with the Ingenuity helicopter was interrupted during the 72nd flight (the device was originally designed for five flights). NASA specialists managed restore communication and discovered that during landing the helicopter touched the surface of Mars with its blades. Most likely, the damage sustained by the helicopter makes further controlled flights impossible.

In December 2023, the Ingenuity helicopter celebrated its 1,000th day on Mars and set a record for longest flight that same month. It became the first aircraft to fly into the unearthly atmosphere. The device was assigned an ICAO code, as is done in aviation.

After completing the science program, Ingenuity was supposed to help with reconnaissance of the route for the Perseverance rover through Jezero Crater. In addition, the helicopter was looking for interesting places to explore. In total, Ingenuity spent 128.8 minutes in the air and flew 17 km at an average speed of 10 tm/s. The maximum lift height was 24 m.

Evgeniy Fedunenko