Cape Canaveral (US), Jan 26 (AP) NASA's little Mars helicopter has flown its last flight.

The space agency announced Thursday that the 1.8-kilogram chopper named Ingenuity can no longer fly because of rotor blade damage. While it remains upright and in contact with flight controllers, its USD 85 million mission is officially over, officials said.

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Originally intended as a short-term tech demo, Ingenuity logged 72 flights over three years at Mars. It accumulated more than two hours of flight time, travelling 18 kilometers. That's more than 14 times farther than planned, according to NASA. It soared as high as 24 metres and hit speeds of up to 36 kmph.

"That remarkable helicopter flew higher and farther than we ever imagined," NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a statement.

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Ingenuity hitched a ride on NASA's Perseverance rover, landing on Mars in 2021. It ended up serving as a scout for the rover and proved powered flight was possible in the thin Martian atmosphere.

Images beamed back this week from its last flight showed that one or more of its rotor blades suffered damage while landing. The blades are no longer usable, according to NASA.

The helicopter ascended to 12 metres on its final flight last week, hovering for a few seconds before descending. It mysteriously lost contact with the nearby rover — its communication relay — while still 1 metre off the ground. Once communication was restored, the damage was confirmed. The reason for the loss of communication is under investigation.

Ingenuity's success prompted NASA in 2022 to add two mini helicopters to a future Mars mission. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)