The Ingenuity exploration helicopter on Mars sends final information back to Earth

On social network mission to explore the Red Planet in the near future.

Ingenuity is the size of a tissue box, weighs about 2 kg, and was sent to Mars with the Perseverance rover on April 19, 2021. Ingenuity's initial goal is to demonstrate the ability to fly in the ultra-thin atmosphere of Mars through five test flights. However, in reality, Ingenuity conducted 72 flights, with a total takeoff time of about 2 hours.

The Ingenuity helicopter's mission was later expanded to support the Perseverance rover in searching for signs of life billions of years ago, when Mars was wetter and warmer than it is today.

Designed to operate in the spring, Ingenuity's solar heating system cannot be maintained all night in the winter. This caused the flight control computer to 'freeze' and forced engineers to find new protocols.

On April 15, NASA said it was looking for a way to bring soil and rock samples collected by the Perseverance rover on Mars to Earth sooner and at a lower cost than expected. This effort comes as NASA is facing criticism for spending over budget.

Samuel Daniel

Update 19 April 2024