Tragedy on Mars. NASA delivered sad news
NASA reported a very sad event on Mars. The drone, named Ingenuity, was damaged and its mission ended.
In February 2021, the Perseverance rover landed in the Jezero Crater on Mars. It was equipped with a small drone called Ingenuity. For almost 3 years, he made dozens of flights, breaking several records in the process. But that’s it. NASA reported the sad event.
Ingenuity crashed
NASA revealed that during its last flight on January 18, 2024, the Ingenuity drone failed. First, contact with it was lost just before landing. Fortunately, it was recovered after 2 days. Engineers performed diagnostics and looked at the photos the drone took at that time. The conclusions are tragic.
It turned out that one of the rotor blades was damaged, which meant that the vehicle would no longer be able to function. Therefore, we can talk about his death. The toddler will no longer make any flights on the surface of the Red Planet.
NASA can be happy with the drone. Initial assumptions assumed that it would survive on Mars for only 30 days. This time was extended to almost 3 years. During this time, Ingenuity made a total of 72 flights, during which it covered 17.7 km in 129 minutes. The vehicle’s capabilities exceeded the engineers’ wildest expectations.
During its mission on Mars, Ingenuity also broke several records. His longest flight was 705 meters. The highest speed is 36 km/h. It’s a pity that this is the end of his mission.
