In NASA explained the reason for the crash of the first Martian rotorcraft Ingenuity. According to the publication ArsTechnica, the helicopter was lost due to the peculiarities of the relief of the planet.

According to experts, “the helicopter's onboard navigation sensors were unable to distinguish enough features on the relatively smooth surface of Mars to determine its position, so it did so by traveling horizontally as it descended.” “This caused the aircraft to crash, breaking all four of the helicopter's blades,” the publication said.

According to the helicopter's first pilot, Howard Grip of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, there are other speculations as to why Ingenuity broke, but the aforementioned cause is the most likely. “During its first flights, Ingenuity could distinguish pebbles and other features to determine its location. But nearly three years later, Ingenuity was flying in the area of Jezero Crater, which is filled with steep, relatively unimpressive sand waves,” the publication wrote.

In January 2024, NASA announced the completion of the Ingenuity helicopter mission to Mars.

On the surface of the Red Planet rover Perseverance with the Ingenuity helicopter landed in February 2021.