From the first flight to the seventy-second
Ingenuity arrived on Mars with the Perseverance rover in 2021. Its first flight, on 19 April that year, demonstrated controlled, powered flight on another planet. The mission planned up to five demonstration flights; it completed 72.
The final landing
During its 72nd flight on 18 January 2024, Ingenuity sustained rotor-blade damage that prevented further flight. Subsequent investigations examined the available data; NASA presented a scenario considered most likely, not a direct observation of every moment of the impact.
The legacy of flight
The experience gained helps engineers design future aerial exploration. Ingenuity demonstrated the importance of adapting blades, navigation and control to an atmosphere much thinner than Earth’s.