NASA's historic Mars helicopter Ingenuity grounded for good after 72 flights

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) NASA said yesterday its Mars robot helicopter Ingenuity, the first vehicle to achieve powered, controlled flight on another world, has been grounded for good after flying dozens of times over three years, ending a landmark mission that far exceeded all expectations.

The fate of Ingenuity was sealed when imagery beamed back to Earth after its 72nd and final flight on Jan. 18 showed that a portion of one of the miniature whirligig's twin rotor blades had broken off, leaving it incapable of further operation, NASA officials said.

"It is bittersweet that I must announce that Ingenuity, the 'little helicopter that could' - and it kept saying, 'I think I can, I think I can' well, it has now taken its last flight on Mars," NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a video posted on social media.

What was planned as a 30-day technology demonstration of no more than five short flights ended up stretching well beyond the expectations of engineers who designed and built the helicopter at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) near Los Angeles.

Ingenuity ultimately buzzed over the Martian terrain 14 times farther than originally planned, logging more than two hours, eight minutes of flight time and covering a distance of 10.5 miles (17 km) through all 72 flights. Its peak altitude was measured at 78.7 feet (24 meters).

The rotor-craft was carried to the Red Planet strapped to the belly of NASA's Perseverance rover, which landed three years ago on the floor of a vast Martian basin called Jerezo Crater on a separate mission aimed primarily at collecting surface samples for eventual return to Earth.

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When the 4-pound (1.8-kg) rotor craft performed its modest, debut takeoff and landing in the thin Martian atmosphere on April 19, 2021 - a flight of 39 seconds - it was hailed as an seminal feat of interplanetary aviation.

NASA likened Ingenuity's achievement at Jerezo Crater to the historic first controlled flight of the Wright brothers' motor-driven airplane near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, in December 1903.