ICYMI NASA Mars Helicopter "No Longer Capable of Flight"

In case you missed it, NASA's Ingenuity helicopter on Mars is "no longer capable of flight." After a flight on January 18, Ingenuity sent images back to Earth showing damage to "one or more" of the rotor blades making additional flights impossible.

NASA's Ingenuity Helicopter Rotor Blade Damaged During Landing — Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

The flight on January 18th was intended to determine Ingenuity's location after the previous flight ended with an emergency landing. The helicopter rose 40 feet, hovered for a few seconds, then started to descend as normal.

MARS ROVER - HELICOPTER - AP NASA FILE 1.jpeg — FILE - This illustration made available by NASA depicts the Ingenuity helicopter on Mars which was attached to the bottom of the Perseverance rover, background left. It will be the first aircraft to attempt controlled flight on another planet. (NASA/JPL-Caltech via AP)

NASA shared in a statement: "about 3 feet (1 meter) above the surface, Ingenuity lost contact with the rover, which serves as a communications relay for the rotorcraft. The following day, communications were reestablished and more information about the flight was relayed to ground controllers at NASA JPL. Imagery revealing damage to the rotor blade arrived several days later."

MARS ROVER - HELICOPTER - AP NASA FILE 3.jpeg — FILE - This Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2021 file photo shows a full-scale model of the Ingenuity helicopter displayed for the media at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. The 4-pound (1.8-kilogram) helicopter, named Ingenuity, will attempt to rise 10 feet (3 meters) into the extremely thin Martian air on its first hop. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Ingenuity has been on the Red Planet almost three years, first landing on February 18, 2021. "Originally designed as a technology demonstration to perform up to five experimental test flights over 30 days," it logged 72 flights in that time and proved flight is possible on Mars and potentially other planets.

NASA- MARS HELICOPTER - AP 4-30-2020.jpeg — In this artist rendering made available by NASA, depicts a helicopter that will be deployed in Mars later this summer. Vanessa Rupani, an Alabama high school student, won a contest to name the 4-pound solar-powered helicopter. Ingenuity, was the winning name that Rupani submitted from 28,000 names submitted in NASA's "Name the Rover" essay contest for K-12 students in the U.S. (NASA via AP)

The helicopter did need several updates while on the Red Planet and lost communication with Earth many times. You can read more about the trials the team navigated here.