Space exploration | The rotor of the minicopter broke on Mars – Ingenuity, which served overtime, no longer flies

Flights in the atmosphere of the planet Mars have ended.

Small helicopter Ingenuity was damaged when the helicopter landed on its 72nd flight. At least one of its six rotor blades cracked.

NASA is the United States Space Administration therefore decided that Ingenuity will no longer fly.

Ingenuity will surely go down in aviation history. The minicopter was the first motorized device to fly on an alien planet.

Ingenuity landed on January 18 on the surface of Mars in an inclined position. At least one of its stages therefore hit the Martian sand.

As of Thursday, only one damaged rotor blade had been identified from the photographs. Apparently, Ingenuity's other stages also crashed. There are four of them in the rotor.

In a helicopter, the rotor is the part that produces the lifting force in the rotating wings of the helicopter.

Ingenuity's rotor rotated the blades at over 2,500 revolutions per minute during flight and also during landing.

When Ingenuity ended its 72nd flight, its data connection was also lost. Therefore, air traffic control does not have all the data of the last flight, says the NASA website.

Ingenuity landed by NASA Perseverance ATV on a ride to Martian Jezero crater in February 2021.

It was soon detached from Perseverance. The minicopter made its maiden flight on April 19, 2021.

Weighing only 1.8 kilograms and knee-high, the copter was supposed to show that it is possible to fly in the thin gas ring of Mars.

Of course, it was confirmed in the pressure chambers on Earth that the flight on Mars would actually be successful. There were grounds for doubt, because the density of the gas atmosphere on Mars is less than one hundredth of the density of the Earth's atmosphere.

Ingenuity implemented in the spring of 2021, the five flightswhich were designed for it.

They went without a hitch. That's why Nasa decided to continue the flights and expand the copter's missions.

Ingenuity became a scout quad for Perseverance's future routes.

It measured the terrain from a height of more than 20 meters in front of Perseverance in the Jezero crater and find safe routes.

The small helicopter was supposed to last only 30 days in the harsh environment of Mars. However, it remained fine for almost three years.

In its extension, Ingenuity in almost three years a whopping 67 flights. The number of flights and the durability of Ingenuity exceeded all expectations of scientists and engineers.

In total, the flights lasted almost 129 minutes. The copter traveled over Mars in 72 flights totaling more than 17 kilometers, says the website Space.com

Ingenuity the flights are over now, but the helicopter will surely go down in history.

“That helicopter flew higher and further than we ever imagined. We made the impossible possible,” praised the copter's NASA director Bill Nelson in his statement.

“I'm already looking forward to the day when astronauts bring Ingenuity home. Then we can admire it at the Smithsonian,” said the director of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory Laurie Leshin.

Leshin cursed to the United States Air and Space Museum, which is located in the capital Washington DC. Aviation equipment that is part of the history of aviation has been assembled there.

NASA is now planning to send two Ingenuity-like copters to Mars. They would help Perseverance collect rock samples, which will perhaps be flown to Earth sometime in the 2030s.

Correction on Monday, January 29 at 1:45 p.m.: The caption initially stated that the monk Perseverance took the photo on January 18. The photo of the helicopter was taken earlier. The circled image of the stage's shadow was captured by the helicopter's camera on January 18, after the helicopter's last flight.