Behind the scenes of the first helicopter crash on Mars

©NASA

It was only intended for a demonstration flight. Ultimately, NASA's small Ingenuity helicopter took off 72 times from the red surface of Mars. Arriving on our neighbor at the same time as the Perseverance rover (February 18, 2021), the small helicopter was to demonstrate that it is possible to fly in the thin atmosphere of Mars. A historic first and a real technical challenge.

By mastering the thin and dusty Martian atmosphere, Ingenuity was able to take aerial photographs of them. Behind their intrinsic beauty, they are a real gold mine for NASA scientists. The mission was such a success that flights multiplied, until January 18, 2024. 2 years and 9 months after its first flight, on April 19, 2021, the helicopter crashed while returning to the ground.

In a report published this week, JPL (the branch of NASA in charge of this mission) looks back at the reasons that led to this crash. During this 72nd and final mission, the small helicopter climbed to 12 meters from the ground. But after 32 seconds of flight,communications were abruptly cut off.

In his report, Ingenuity pilot Håvard Grig explains that one hypothesis caught his attention during this long investigation. For him, it was the “lack of data on the textures of the Martian soil” that led to the accident. To understand these words, we must look at how Ingenuity's flights were conducted.

Blind Flights

Ingenuity debris after its crash © NASA

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Due to the distance between Earth and Mars (and the time it takes for information to travel through space), it is impossible to lead Ingenuity in ” direct “. Flight instructions are therefore established in advance, and then everything happens blindly. On Earth, engineers only receive data lines, indicating whether or not everything goes as they planned.

Ingenuity flies based on the commands it has received, but also thanks to the numerous pieces of information provided by its sensors. During this 72nd flight, one of them ordered it to make an emergency landing. But the small helicopter's miscalculations caused it to reach the ground too quickly, leading to its accident.

” Too high a horizontal speed ” caused the helicopter to capsize. When it hit the ground violently, one of the blades of the aircraft broke. Although it can no longer fly, Ingenuity is not a waste. NASA has also praised its work in recent months.

Its sensors are still working perfectly. They are capable of measuring Martian weather conditions. Very valuable information, which helps NASA in the movement of the Perseverance rover.

Ingenuity 2: already in the pipeline

© NASA

The success of this side project within NASA's “Mars 2020” mission seems to have given ideas to several engineers. A new helicopter concept is reportedly in development course on the Houston side. It would be 20 times heavier (36 kilograms) and would fly 3 kilometers per day.

For Teddy Tzanetos, head of the Ingenuity project (first of the name), this demonstration of force also brings to the forefront questions about the design of future Martian devices. Without special radiation shielding, Ingenuity was able to work for nearly 4 years. As a processor, NASA teams used commercially available cell phone chips.

Proof that to achieve great things ” not everything needs to be bigger, heavier, and radiation-enhanced to work in the harsh Martian environment “ concludes Teddy Tzanetos in his report.

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