The journey of Ingenuity in search of extraterrestrial life has come to an abrupt end due to a serious incident during its communication blackout.
The Martian helicopter, Ingenuity, suffered damage to one of its rotor blades, which will prevent it from ever taking off again, leaving it permanently in this extraterrestrial world, according to a statement from NASA Administrator Bill Nelson on January 25.
A photo of the Martian surface inadvertently reveals Ingenuity’s damaged rotor blade – (Image: NASA).
According to NASA’s announcement, Space.com reported that Ingenuity had to make an emergency landing during its final flight, which coincided with the day NASA declared an abrupt loss of communication with the lander, January 18.
Previously, Ingenuity reached an altitude of 12 meters, a record height for its flights. During its landing, just 1 meter above the ground, communication was lost.
Engineers from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) quickly restored communication after sending its companion, the Perseverance lander, to search for it. Ingenuity communicates indirectly with NASA through Perseverance.
However, just as they received the good news of finding Ingenuity, engineers discovered that its carbon fiber rotor was damaged, as shown in images captured by Perseverance of its little friend.
According to Bill Nelson, they are assessing whether the rotor touched the ground during that final landing.
Regardless of the reason, Ingenuity can no longer fly. The distance between planets does not allow NASA engineers to make repairs.
Although Ingenuity is not completely “dead” yet, its position on the ground could lead to it being buried in Martian dust storms, similar to the fate of other American and Russian spacecraft.
Nevertheless, Ingenuity has completed its mission far beyond expectations.
Landing alongside Perseverance in February 2021, this tiny helicopter was initially tasked with a short mission of just 30 days. However, it has flown for 3 years, completing 72 flights exploring Mars.
Ingenuity’s mission was to conduct low-altitude aerial exploration to identify promising locations for the search for extraterrestrial life. Its companion, Perseverance, would then move in for further study, conducting experiments and collecting samples.
Perseverance is a robotic lander shaped like a rover, reminiscent of the famous Wall-E robot from the animated film.
This robot is equipped with cameras, a mini-laboratory inside, sample collection tools, and is currently NASA’s leading warrior in the quest for extraterrestrial life.
In another area of Mars, an older version of Perseverance, called Curiosity, is still operational after more than 12 years since its landing (November 2011).
