The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) lost contact with its Mars helicopter Ingenuity towards the end of its 72nd flight on the red planet on Thursday (January 18). The small robotic chopper is the first aircraft in history to make a powered, controlled flight on another planet.
In a statement made on Friday (January 19), NASA said: “During its planned descent, communications between the helicopter and (Perseverance) rover terminated early, prior to touchdown… The Ingenuity team is analysing available data and considering next steps to reestablish communications with the helicopter.”
Here is everything you need to know about the Ingenuity helicopter and its mission.
When and why was Ingenuity sent to Mars?
On July 30, 2020, NASA launched a spacecraft towards Mars, carrying the Perseverance rover, which had Ingenuity attached to its belly. On February 18, 2021, Perseverance successfully landed on the red planet. However, it wasn’t until April 4 that the helicopter was deployed on the surface. It was only after the rover reached a suitable “airfield” location, it released Ingenuity to the surface.
While the rover’s mission was to study signs of ancient life, and collect samples that might be sent back to Earth during future missions, Ingenuity was sent to Mars as an experiment to test powered, controlled flight on another world for the first time.
Why was Ingenuity’s flight on Mars a big deal?
The chopper made its first flight on Mars on April 19, 2021. It rose to a height of 10 feet, hovered for 30 seconds, and then descended back to the ground. The flight lasted 39.1 seconds. This was a big deal for two reasons. One, as mentioned before, Ingenuity was the first aircraft to fly on another planet. Two, it managed to fly in Mars’ thin atmosphere, which isn’t conducive for flying.
According to NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), “Flight at Mars is challenging because the Red Planet has a significantly lower gravity – one-third that of Earth’s – and an extremely thin atmosphere with only 1% the pressure at the surface compared to our planet. This means there are relatively few air molecules with which Ingenuity’s two 4-foot-wide (1.2-meter-wide) rotor blades can interact to achieve flight.”
Notably, Ingenuity is an autonomous aircraft. It’s piloted by onboard guidance, navigation, and control systems running algorithms developed by the team at JPL. Perseverance acts as a relay between the chopper and Earth.
How did Ingenuity’s mission evolve?
In the weeks after its first flight, Ingenuity made four more flights of increasing time, speed and velocity. This was supposed to be the end of its mission. The plan was that Perseverance would leave the chopper behind and carry on with its scientific research.
However, scientists began to use Ingenuity for scouting. A 2022 report by The New York Times noted: “When Perseverance set off to explore the rocks to the south, Ingenuity went along, now scouting the terrain ahead of the rover. That helped avoid wasting time driving to unexceptional rocks that had looked potentially interesting in images taken from orbit.”
Before it went missing, Ingenuity had made 72 flights, staying aloft for more than 128 minutes and covering a total of 17.7 kilometres, according to the mission’s flight log.
What happens now?
Scientists are trying to reestablish contact with the helicopter. They may also use Perseverance to find Ingenuity.
In a post on X, NASA-JPL said: “Perseverance is currently out of line-of-sight with Ingenuity, but the team could consider driving closer for a visual inspection.”
Shambhu Kumar is a science communicator, making complex scientific topics accessible to all. His articles explore breakthroughs in various scientific disciplines, from space exploration to cutting-edge research.
