When the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter finally made its last flight and fell silent, many thought that was the last we would hear of it. However, NASA engineers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California are evaluating its last flight right now. This is the first-ever airplane crash investigation to be conducted on an aircraft on another planet. Ingenuity already had the honor of being the first aircraft to fly to another planet.
The Ingenuity was planned to make only five flights within 30 days, but it flew for almost three years, making 72 flights. The last, 72nd, flight ended in a crash that left the helicopter grounded forever. All four rotor blades broke as the helicopter hit sandbars and rolled, landing permanently on the ground.
Because the Ingenuity navigation system was unable to find enough objects on the surface of Jezero Crater to track them, the helicopter was unable to land properly. The hard landing probably caused the helicopter to flip over, but this tragic final flight is not all bad news. Today, scientists and engineers are using data from Ingenuity flights to work on improving the design of aircraft. One such example is the Mars Chopper, a helicopter that can theoretically fly up to two miles per day.
