Blade Strike on Landing Ends Mars Helicopter’s Epic Journey

The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter made its 72nd and final flight on 18 January. “While the helicopter remains upright and in communication with ground controllers,” NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab said in a press release this afternoon, “imagery of its Jan. 18 flight sent to Earth this week indicates one or more of its rotor blades sustained damage during landing, and it is no longer capable of flight.” That’s what you’re seeing in the picture above: the shadow of