NASA’s history-making Ingenuity helicopter flew its last flight on Mars in January, but engineers just received its final transmission to Earth on April 16. The resilient machine sustained damage during a rough landing, but was still able to collect data and talk to its companion Perseverance rover. With Perseverance moving on, the communications link is severed. Ingenuity’s farewell message was a tribute to its team.
Ingenuity’s last chat with Earth included the names of the people who worked on the project. NASA Jet Propulsion Labs mission controllers made the farewell message possible by sending it first to the Perseverance rover, which sent it to Ingenuity and then back to the rover to send to Earth, like an interplanetary game of telephone. Ingenuity doesn’t talk directly to NASA, but used Perseverance as a communications base station.
The rotorcraft now sits with a broken rotor blade in the Jezero Crater at a spot named Valinor Hills. The name comes from J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings” fantasy series. It’s an epic name for the final resting place of an epic mission.
Ingenuity is headed into an unusual retirement program. “With apologies to Dylan Thomas, Ingenuity will not be going gently into that good Martian night,” said Ingenuity team lead Josh Anderson in a statement on Tuesday. The helicopter received a software update that commands it to collect data about its solar panels and equipment, take color pictures of the planet’s surface and gather temperature information. It will continue this practice for as long as it holds out, even though it’s no longer talking with the rover. Part of Ingenuity’s final communication included confirmation the new software was working properly.
All machines on Mars eventually die. The rotorcraft is solar-powered, so there’s a chance its solar panels could get covered in dust, choking out its power over time. Ingenuity will contend with the cold and windy conditions on Mars. Whatever data it collects will remain stored on board. “The team has calculated Ingenuity’s memory could potentially hold about 20 years’ worth of daily data,” NASA said.
The helicopter leaves behind an impressive legacy of aerial achievement. It was originally considered a technology demonstration, an add-on to the main Perseverance mission. It made history in April 2021 when it became the first aircraft to make a powered, controlled flight on another planet. NASA was hoping to get five flights out of it. Ultimately, it logged 72 flights covering 10.5 miles through the air. It went from a demonstration to acting as a scout for Perseverance. It proved helicopters can be an important part of future missions.
While Ingenuity may be grounded and silent, team members are still working on the future of helicopter exploration on other planets. One of their goals is to design the next Mars helicopter using what was learned from Ingenuity’s triumphs and tribulations.
Ingenuity will become a time capsule, but one that is still alive for the time being. Said project manager Teddy Tzanetos, “Whenever humanity revisits Valinor Hills—either with a rover, a new aircraft, or future astronauts—Ingenuity will be waiting with her last gift of data, a final testament to the reason we dare mighty things.”
