Ingenuity was a groundbreaking NASA mission. It was the first helicopter to fly on another planet.
Initially designed for five flights lasting 30 days, it amazingly completed 72 flights over nearly three years.
The crash of Ingenuity on its final flight, Flight 72, was due to a navigation system error. The surface lacked the texture necessary for Ingenuity’s navigation, causing inaccurate data, high horizontal velocities, and a hard impact that damaged the rotor blades.
While Ingenuity is still collecting weather data, it can’t transmit it back to Earth. It needs the Perseverance rover to help with that and Perseverance is now 1.8 miles away and out of range.
Reflecting its success, NASA plans to develop future Mars helicopters with improved capabilities, like the Mars Chopper, which could autonomously explore and study inaccessible terrains.
