Society
Malfunction Ends “Mars Helicopter” Mission
NASA announced that its Martian helicopter “Ingenuity” is no longer able to fly.
Images sent back to Earth this week showed that one or more of the small helicopter’s rotor blades were damaged during landing.
Although “Ingenuity” remains in a healthy state and can communicate with the control center on Earth, the helicopter is unable to take flight.
NASA stated in a release that this means the helicopter’s mission, originally slated to last just 30 days, has now concluded after approximately 3 years on Mars.
Bill Nelson, NASA Administrator, said, “The historic journey of the vehicle (Ingenuity), first-ever aircraft on another planet, is over.”