Some more light is being shed on the fate of NASA's Mars helicopter, Ingenuity, thanks to fresh images taken by the Perseverance rover.
Mars helicopter Ingenuity missing rotor blades in new Perseverance rover image
After expectations of 72 flights over nearly three years, the helicopter was finally retired in January 2024 when NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) found rotor damage after a quick up-and-down flight to check the helicopter's systems.
NASA confirmed that Ingenuity was upright and in communication with ground controllers but would not fly again. Images released at the time showed that the tip of at least one rotor blade had been damaged. Subsequent images showed a missing upper rotor blade, but the images were frustratingly low-resolution.
Images taken on February 25 by Perseverance's SuperCam Remote Micro-Imager, perched atop the rover's mast, provide the best picture yet of the damage, and we can see why NASA chose to retire the poor thing.
