A 1.8kg Nasa helicopter that ran an unprecedented six dozen flights on Mars will fly no more, the US space agency said Thursday.<\/p>\n
During Ingenuity\u2019s most recent flight, on Jan. 18, one of the helicopter\u2019s blades might have struck the ground while coming in for landing, permanently grounding it, Nasa said in an announcement<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>Thursday.<\/p>\n Ingenuity\u2019s mission was also meant to last about a month but spanned multiple years.<\/p>\n Its success could open up the opportunity for using helicopters to explore and scout other planets and moons in our solar system in the future.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is bittersweet that I must announce that Ingenuity \u2014 the little helicopter that could and it kept saying, \u2018I think I can; I think I can\u2019 \u2013 well, it has now taken its last flight on Mars,\u201d Nasa administrator Bill Nelson<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0announced in a video posted on the website X.<\/p>\n At the time of the Jan. 18 descent, Nasabriefly lost contact with the helicopter, but reestablished communication two days later, the agency said.<\/p>\n Ingenuity\u00a0launched to Mars<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>in 2020, traveling through deep space while attached to Nasa’s Perseverance rover, designed to hunt for life on the Red Planet.<\/p>\n The goal of the helicopter\u2019s mission was to see if spacecraft could fly in the very thin Martian atmosphere, which is just 1% the density of Earth\u2019s atmosphere.<\/p>\n After the rover successfully landed in 2021, it deployed Ingenuity on the surface of Mars, where it would go on to perform a total of 72 flights \u2014 far surpassing its goal of as many as five.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat Ingenuity accomplished far exceeds what we thought possible,\u201d Nelson said in the video.<\/p>\n NASA’s historic Ingenuity Helicopter has taken its last flight on Mars. After 72 incredible flights, that remarkable helicopter flew farther and higher than we ever thought possible. #ThanksIngenuity<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/eYwO9R6LY1<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Bill Nelson (@SenBillNelson) January 25, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n