rover

Ingenuity, the small helicopter that’s been buzzing around the Red Planet for almost three years, has taken its final flight. NASA announced today that at least one of the helicopter’s carbon fiber rotor blades was damaged during its last mission, grounding it for good. As NASA Administrator Bill Nelson explained in a statement today, Ingenuity was up against the very, very thin Martian atmosphere, which is less than 1% as dense as Earth’s. It arrived on the Red Planet attached to the underside of the Perseverance rover, which is still active on Mars’ surface. Just last week, NASA experienced a two-day communications blackout with the little helicopter after it conducted what turned out to be its final flight.

Ingenuity, the small helicopter that’s been buzzing around the Red Planet for almost three years, has taken its final flight. NASA announced today that at least one of the helicopter’s carbon fiber rotor blades was damaged during its last mission, grounding it for good. As NASA Administrator Bill Nelson explained in a statement today, Ingenuity was up against the very, very thin Martian atmosphere, which is less than 1% as dense as Earth’s. It arrived on the Red Planet attached to the underside of the Perseverance rover, which is still active on Mars’ surface. Just last week, NASA experienced a two-day communications blackout with the little helicopter after it conducted what turned out to be its final flight.