The Ingenuity helicopter makes its final flight on Mars (Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

The Ingenuity Mars mini-helicopter from NASA, the North American space agency, has made its final flight on Mars. Ingenuity spent nearly 1,000 days on the planet alongside the Perseverance rover.

Ingenuity's presence at Mate was 33 times larger than NASA had planned. It was designed to make five flights, but it flew 72 times, faster and higher than the mission team's goals.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson confirmed in a statement that “the historic flight of the Ingenuity spacecraft, the first aircraft on another planet, has come to an end.”

“This incredible helicopter has flown higher and farther than we ever imagined and has helped NASA do what we do best — make the impossible possible. Through missions like Ingenuity, NASA is paving the way for future flights in our solar system and for smarter, safer humans,” he added. : “Exploring Mars.”

On January 18, during its 72nd locating flight, Ingenuity stopped 12 meters above the ground for a few seconds before landing. During the fall, the helicopter lost contact with the vehicle, and when contact was restored, scientists noticed that one of the blades was damaged, meaning it could no longer fly.

Creativity flew for more than two hours in total, covering more than 17 kilometres. Perseverance helped by scanning the terrain in front of the rover for interesting rocks and outcroppings. The highest height he reached was 24 metres.

In its original mission, Ingenuity was expected to fly at an altitude of 3 to 5 meters for a maximum of 90 seconds per flight.

The Ingenuity team will perform final tests on the helicopter's systems and download all data and images from the on-board computer.

Verify information on Correo Brazilianense.