The Mars Science Helicopter Could be an Airborne Geologist on Mars
After over 70 successful flights, a broken rotor ended the remarkable and groundbreaking Ingenuity helicopter mission on Mars. Now, NASA is considering how a larger, more capable helicopter could be an airborne geologist on the Red Planet. For the past several years scientists and engineers have been working on the concept, proposing a six-rotor hexacopter…
Grabbing Samples from the Surface of Mars
As if the Mars Perseverance Rover and Ingenuity Drone were not exciting enough then the next step in this audacious mission takes it to a whole new level. Mars Sample Return Mission is to follow along, collect and return the samples collected by Perseverance back to Earth. However the status of Mars Sample Return is…
Ingenuity Won’t Fly Again Because It’s Missing a Rotor Blade
Ingenuity has been the first aerial vehicle on another world. NASA announced the end of the Martian helicopter’s life at the end of its 72nd flight. During the flight there had been a problem on landing and, following the incident a few photos revealed chips in one of the rotor blades but nothing too serious.…
Final images of Ingenuity reveal an entire blade broke off the...
Enlarge / An image of Ingenuity captured by Perseverance's SuperCam RMI instrument.NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL/CNES/IRAP/Simeon Schmauß It has now been several weeks since NASA's tenacious helicopter on Mars, Ingenuity, made its final flight above the red planet. This happened last month. On January 6, Ingenuity flew 40 feet (12 meters) skyward but then made an unplanned early landing…
Before Ingenuity ever landed on Mars, scientists almost managed to kill...
Enlarge / This is the final photo that Perseverance took of Ingenuity before moving away from its final resting spot. NASA/Simeon Schmauß MiMi Aung could barely contain her excitement as she drove up Oak Grove Drive, the leafy thoroughfare leading to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Aung had spent her formative years in Burma and Malaysia,…
It turns out NASA’s Mars helicopter was much more revolutionary than...
Enlarge / An image from Ingenuity, looking down at the surface of Mars. That's its shadow.NASA/JPL Much has been written about the plucky exploits of NASA's small Ingenuity helicopter on Mars. And all of the accolades are deserved. "The little mission that could" did, flying 72 sorties across the red planet and pushing out the…
NASA’s Mars helicopter broke during a mysterious communication blackout. Now it...
NASA says its Mars helicopter, Ingenuity, broke beyond repair during a mysterious communication lapse.Imagery suggests that at least one of the helicopter's blades was damaged during its final flight.Ingenuity soared past NASA's wildest dreams by flying 72 times. It was a huge success. Thanks for signing up! Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while…
The helicopter on Mars just flew again after surviving an emergency...
Enlarge / This view of NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter was generated using data collected by the Mastcam-Z instrument aboard the agency’s Perseverance Mars rover on Aug. 2, 2023.NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS By the standard of some of its previous flights, the most recent voyage of NASA's intrepid Ingenuity helicopter on Mars was nothing special. Over a period of…
I pilot NASA’s first and only Mars helicopter. My job can...
Håvard Grip pilots NASA's Ingenuity helicopter, which has flown 40 times on Mars. Flying the first interplanetary drone is like playing a strategic video game (not the joystick kind). This is Grip's account of his job at NASA's JPL, as told to reporter Morgan McFall-Johnsen. Loading Something is loading. Thanks for signing up! Access your…
NASA’s plan to get Ingenuity through the Martian winter
Enlarge / In this concept illustration provided by NASA, NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter stands on the Red Planet's surface as NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance rover rolls away.NASA Ingenuity, NASA’s autonomous Mars helicopter, was only meant to complete five flights. But since its history-making first flight in April 2021, the helicopter has flown 28 times, and…