NASA's Ingenuity helicopter crashes on Mars after 72 successful flights

economictimes.indiatimes.com

NASA's Ingenuity helicopter crashed on Mars after its 72nd flight on January 18, 2024, due to a software glitch and challenging terrain. The helicopter, which flew far beyond its initial five-flight mission, lost stabilization mid-maneuver. Despite the crash, Ingenuity is considered a success, completing 72 flights and providing valuable data. It continues to send weather and test information to the Perseverance rover, aiding future Mars missions. NASA is now developing a new helicopter called the Mars Chopper. This larger, six-rotor aircraft will explore areas inaccessible to rovers and is designed using lessons learned from Ingenuity's performance.


With a significance score of 3.8, this news ranks in the top 12% of today's 17953 analyzed articles.

Get summaries of news with significance over 5.5 (usually ~10 stories per week). Read by 9000 minimalists.