Accident on Mars:This is a first, as no aircraft accident investigation has taken place on another planet before.
Ingenuity helicopter of NASA, crashed on Mars after a software glitch during its 72nd flight on January 18, 2024, the agency announced at a briefing on December 11 during the American Geophysical Union meeting. The small helicopter, which arrived on Mars with the Perseverance rover in 2021, significantly exceeded its planned five-flight mission.
The crash occurred when the helicopter lost stabilization mid-maneuver due to the uniform Martian terrain, which hindered its navigation system. Despite the crash, NASA considers Ingenuity a success. It was the first aircraft to achieve controlled flight on another planet.
Designed as a short technology demonstration, Ingenuity far exceeded expectations, completing 72 flights over nearly three years, covering over 30 times its planned distance, and accumulating over two hours of flight time. The final flight involved a 12-meter ascent to capture images before descending. Communication was lost during the descent but restored the next day. Images received six days later revealed severe damage to the rotor blades.
Ingenuity was only meant to fly five times over 30 days, but it flew for almost three years, clocking 72 total flights. Flight 72, its last, resulted in a crash that caused it to be permanently grounded. All four of its rotor blades snapped as the helicopter fell onto a sand ripple and rolled, permanently grounding it.
Another Mars chopper in works
Meanwhile, the US space agency revealed that it is now developing the Mars Chopper, a larger, six-rotor helicopter about the size of an SUV. This new aircraft will be able to carry payloads up to 11 pounds and travel nearly two miles per Martian day. The Mars Chopper is intended to explore areas inaccessible to rovers, like cliffs and craters.
The crashed helicopter still beams weather and avionics test data to the Perseverance rover about once a week. The weather information could benefit future explorers of the Red Planet. The avionics data is already proving useful to engineers working on future designs of aircraft and other vehicles for the Red Planet.
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