NASA in January said that its history-making Ingenuity Mars Helicopter’s mission ended after one of its rotor blades took damage during landing. The rotorcraft is permanently grounded because of its snapped rotor, and now, the Perseverance rover has taken images of the helicopter and the damage it took.
Ingenuity was initially designed as a technology demonstration to complete five test flights over 30 days. It made history as the first vehicle to conduct powered flight on another world. It then went on to far exceed its initial mission goals by completing 72 flights over three years.
“The historic journey of Ingenuity, the first aircraft on another planet, has come to end. 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,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson in a press statement.
Now, the snapped blade of the helicopter lies about 15 metres away from the defunct helicopter, according to the Planetary Society. Geovisual designer Simeon Schmauß took images from the Perseverance rover and put together a mosaic with a view that shows both the helicopter and the blade that is far away from it.
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