{"id":777235,"date":"2024-02-14T16:40:09","date_gmt":"2024-02-14T21:40:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=777235"},"modified":"2024-02-14T16:40:09","modified_gmt":"2024-02-14T21:40:09","slug":"nasas-ingenuity-mission-on-mars-comes-to-an-end-npr-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=777235","title":{"rendered":"NASA’s Ingenuity mission on Mars comes to an end : NPR"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\n An illustration of NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter flying on Mars. In April 2021, Ingenuity became the first aircraft to complete a powered, controlled flight on another planet.
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An illustration of NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter flying on Mars. In April 2021, Ingenuity became the first aircraft to complete a powered, controlled flight on another planet.<\/p>\n

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NASA is retiring Ingenuity, its mini Mars helicopter, a week after it was damaged during its 72nd flight. The spindly overachiever made history as the first aircraft to complete a powered, controlled flight on another planet. <\/p>\n

“The little helicopter that could \u2014 and it kept saying ‘I think I can, I think I can’ \u2014 well, it’s taken its last flight,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a video announcement on Thursday. <\/p>\n

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At least one of Ingenuity’s carbon-fiber rotor blades was damaged when the helicopter was coming down for landing during a test flight on Jan. 18, Nelson said. Around that time, NASA also lost contact with Ingenuity. Communications were restored the next day, and the cause of the blackout is still under investigation, according to the space agency. The agency is also investigating the possibility that the damage was caused by a blade striking the ground. Its carbon-fiber rotor blades have enabled Ingenuity to fly through the extremely thin and cold Martian atmosphere.<\/p>\n