The US space agency announced the end of the mission yesterday evening (25 January), saying that one or more of its rotors sustained damage during landing after a flight on 18 January, and that it was no longer capable of flight.
Ingenuity became the first aircraft to make a powered, controlled flight over the surface of another planet on 19 April 2021. Described as “our Wright Brothers moment on Mars” by then project manager MiMi Aung, the 1.8kg rotorcraft’s 40-second flight was the first of many.
Originally designed as a technology demonstration to perform up to five experimental test flights over 30 days, Ingenuity flew 72 times, travelling more than 14-times further than planned across more than two hours of total flight time.
“The historic journey of Ingenuity, the first aircraft on another planet, has come to end,” said NASA administrator Bill Nelson. “That remarkable helicopter flew higher and farther than we ever imagined and helped NASA do what we do best – make the impossible, possible. Through missions like Ingenuity, NASA is paving the way for future flight in our solar system and smarter, safer human exploration to Mars and beyond.”
After its first five flights, the craft embarked on a new mission as an operations demonstration, serving as an aerial scout for Perseverance rover drivers and scientists. In 2023, the helicopter executed two successful flight tests that further expanded the team’s knowledge of its aerodynamic limits.
The main challenge for Ingenuity, as Aung told Professional Engineering previously, is the maximum mass that can be lifted in such a thin atmosphere. The atmospheric pressure is only 1% that of Earth – a far bigger challenge than the boost afforded by the planet’s one-third gravity.
The craft’s two contra-rotating rotors had to spin at about 3,000rpm to create enough lift, 5-10 times more frequently than helicopters on Earth.
During its mission, Ingenuity was upgraded with the ability to autonomously choose landing sites in treacherous terrain, dealt with a dead sensor, cleaned itself after dust storms, operated from 48 different airfields, performed three emergency landings, and survived a frigid Martian winter.
The NASA team planned for the helicopter to make a short vertical flight on 18 January to determine its location, after executing an emergency landing on its previous flight. The craft achieved a maximum altitude of 12 metres and hovered for 4.5 seconds, before starting its descent at a velocity of one metre per second. About one metre above the surface, Ingenuity lost contact with the rover, which serves as a communications relay for the rotorcraft.
The helicopter remains upright and in communication with ground controllers, NASA said. The cause of the communications dropout and the helicopter’s orientation at time of touchdown are still being investigated.
Even before its first successful flight, Ingenuity was seen as an initial demonstration of technological principles that could form the foundation of future flight programmes on Mars and elsewhere in the Solar System. Its almost 1,000 days of successful operation could mean it forms an even more solid blueprint for future craft.
Ingenuity’s project manager, Teddy Tzanetos of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California, said: “History’s first Mars helicopter will leave behind an indelible mark on the future of space exploration and will inspire fleets of aircraft on Mars – and other worlds – for decades to come.”
JPL director Laurie Leshin said: “At NASA JPL, innovation is at the heart of what we do. Ingenuity is an exemplar of the way we push the boundaries of what’s possible every day. I’m incredibly proud of our team behind this historic technological achievement and eager to see what they’ll invent next.”
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Content published by Professional Engineering does not necessarily represent the views of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.