2024-04-18 00:39:13
This content was published on April 18, 2024 – 02:39
(Keystone-ATS) The small Ingenuity helicopter sent to Mars by NASA has transmitted its last message to Earth, the American space agency announced Tuesday. It must now serve as a fixed unit for gathering data on the surface of the Red Planet.
In 2021, Ingenuity became the first motorized device to fly on another planet. He had thus proven that it was possible to fly in Martian air, with a density equivalent to only 1% that of the Earth’s atmosphere.
Weighing only 1.8 kilograms, the helicopter looked more like a large drone. In total, he covered 17 kilometers and flew to an altitude of 24 meters. His cumulative flight time amounts to more than two hours.
He arrived on Mars in February 2021, with the Perseverance rover for which he played the role of aerial scout to help his wheeled companion search for possible signs of ancient microbial life.
Remarkable longevity
“A long goodbye,” wrote NASA on the social network X (formerly Twitter). “The Ingenuity team received the latest message from #MarsHelicopter, which will now serve as a testbed, collecting data that could help future explorers of the Red Planet.”
Ingenuity’s longevity has been remarkable, especially knowing that it had to survive freezing Martian nights by warming itself thanks to solar panels that charged its batteries during the day.
The helicopter was originally only supposed to take off five times, but given its very good performance, the mission was extended until January 2024. It was deployed 72 times in total.
The US space agency announced on Monday that it was looking for ways to bring rocks taken from Mars by Perseverance back to Earth more quickly and less expensively, after criticism of the size of its budget.
The announcement was made as the Chinese Tianwen-3 mission to return samples from the red planet should be launched around 2030, according to state media, in a context of rivalry between the two powers.
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