NASA's Mars Helicopter Ends Service after 'History-making' Mission
2024-02-05
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1NASA's experimental helicopter, Ingenuity, has officially ended its service on Mars after what the U.S. space agency called a "history-making" mission.
2Ingenuity arrived on Mars with NASA's Perseverance explorer, or rover, in February 2021.
3The experimental helicopter has completed many test flights on the Red Planet to support NASA's efforts to build new aircraft that can fly in the atmospheres of other planets.
4Ingenuity became the first aircraft to complete a powered, controlled flight on another planet in April 2021.
5At first, NASA described Ingenuity as a demonstration mission that was expected to last about one month.
6The aircraft aimed to test flight on Mars, including taking off, flying short distances and landing.
7The helicopter quickly demonstrated its abilities during a series of tests.
8In May 2021, NASA officially extended Ingenuity's experimental mission.
9In total, the helicopter performed 72 flights on Mars, the space agency said.
10The aircraft flew 14 times farther than planned and completed more than two hours of total flight time.
11NASA Administrator Bill Nelson praised Ingenuity as "the little helicopter that could."
12He noted that officials were surprised with each new flight progression.
13But Nelson noted that because of damage to a rotor, the helicopter had finally taken its last flight.
14"The historic journey of Ingenuity, the first aircraft on another planet, has come to (an) end," he said.
15Nelson added that mission controllers discovered during an attempt by Ingenuity to land that at least one of the aircraft's rotor blades had been damaged.
16The damage is currently being investigated, but the NASA chief said the blade might have struck the ground during the landing attempt.
17NASA said Ingenuity rose to 12 meters on its final flight last week, staying in the air for a few seconds before heading back down.
18Most flights only last a few minutes because the helicopter has energy and temperature limitations.
19Nelson said the helicopter was able to fly effectively in the thin Martian atmosphere.
20But he noted that additional progress showed the aircraft "far exceeded what we thought possible."
21Ingenuity's mission, Nelson, said, had opened the door to "future flight in our solar system and smarter, safer human exploration to Mars and beyond."
22After Ingenuity performed well in flight tests, NASA decided to expand the helicopter's mission to assist Perseverance with its rover operations.
23This change officially turned the aircraft's mission into an "operations demonstration."
24NASA reports Ingenuity helped to identify additional exploration areas for Perseverance.
25Both the rover and helicopter have been collecting data and images while exploring an area known as Jezero Crater.
26The goal is to search for signs of ancient life on Mars.
27NASA noted that Ingenuity had helped map a path from above to help Perseverance take on new exploration activities.
28Flight controllers on the ground have been collecting data on all of Ingenuity's operations.
29They said this data will be valuable in helping NASA design future aircraft for Mars.
30The success of the helicopter mission led the space agency in 2022 to approve the development of two small helicopters to be deployed on future missions.
31While Ingenuity continued its operational mission, teams on the ground experimented with new rotor blades.
32During ground tests completed last year, engineers reported the rotor blades had reached speeds nearly equal to Mach 1, the speed of sound.
33The blades tested on Earth are made of carbon.
34They are more than 10 centimeters longer than Ingenuity's and are designed to be stronger and to move faster.
35NASA has said the rotor blades are designed to support bigger, more complex helicopters.
36I'm Bryan Lynn.
1NASA's experimental helicopter, Ingenuity, has officially ended its service on Mars after what the U.S. space agency called a "history-making" mission. 2Ingenuity arrived on Mars with NASA's Perseverance explorer, or rover, in February 2021. The experimental helicopter has completed many test flights on the Red Planet to support NASA's efforts to build new aircraft that can fly in the atmospheres of other planets. 3Ingenuity became the first aircraft to complete a powered, controlled flight on another planet in April 2021. 4At first, NASA described Ingenuity as a demonstration mission that was expected to last about one month. The aircraft aimed to test flight on Mars, including taking off, flying short distances and landing. The helicopter quickly demonstrated its abilities during a series of tests. 5In May 2021, NASA officially extended Ingenuity's experimental mission. In total, the helicopter performed 72 flights on Mars, the space agency said. The aircraft flew 14 times farther than planned and completed more than two hours of total flight time. 6NASA Administrator Bill Nelson praised Ingenuity as "the little helicopter that could." He noted that officials were surprised with each new flight progression. 7But Nelson noted that because of damage to a rotor, the helicopter had finally taken its last flight. "The historic journey of Ingenuity, the first aircraft on another planet, has come to (an) end," he said. 8Nelson added that mission controllers discovered during an attempt by Ingenuity to land that at least one of the aircraft's rotor blades had been damaged. The damage is currently being investigated, but the NASA chief said the blade might have struck the ground during the landing attempt. 9NASA said Ingenuity rose to 12 meters on its final flight last week, staying in the air for a few seconds before heading back down. Most flights only last a few minutes because the helicopter has energy and temperature limitations. 10Nelson said the helicopter was able to fly effectively in the thin Martian atmosphere. But he noted that additional progress showed the aircraft "far exceeded what we thought possible." 11Ingenuity's mission, Nelson, said, had opened the door to "future flight in our solar system and smarter, safer human exploration to Mars and beyond." 12After Ingenuity performed well in flight tests, NASA decided to expand the helicopter's mission to assist Perseverance with its rover operations. This change officially turned the aircraft's mission into an "operations demonstration." 13NASA reports Ingenuity helped to identify additional exploration areas for Perseverance. Both the rover and helicopter have been collecting data and images while exploring an area known as Jezero Crater. The goal is to search for signs of ancient life on Mars. 14NASA noted that Ingenuity had helped map a path from above to help Perseverance take on new exploration activities. Flight controllers on the ground have been collecting data on all of Ingenuity's operations. They said this data will be valuable in helping NASA design future aircraft for Mars. 15The success of the helicopter mission led the space agency in 2022 to approve the development of two small helicopters to be deployed on future missions. 16While Ingenuity continued its operational mission, teams on the ground experimented with new rotor blades. During ground tests completed last year, engineers reported the rotor blades had reached speeds nearly equal to Mach 1, the speed of sound. 17The blades tested on Earth are made of carbon. They are more than 10 centimeters longer than Ingenuity's and are designed to be stronger and to move faster. NASA has said the rotor blades are designed to support bigger, more complex helicopters. 18I'm Bryan Lynn. 19Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English, based on reports from NASA, The Associated Press and Reuters. 20Words in This Story 21mission - n. the flight of a spacecraft to perform a certain task or job 22rotor blade - n. thin, flat pieces of material that spin to make aircraft lift off the ground and travel 23journey - n. the act of traveling from one place to another 24exceed - v. to go over a particular number or amount