After three years and 72 flights over the surface of Mars, NASA's Ingenuity helicopter has touched down for the last time. Imagery downlinked from the helicopter indicated that one or more of its rotor blades sustained damage during its Flight 72 landing on Jan. 18, 2024, rendering it no longer capable of flight.

Designed as a technology demonstration that was expected to fly no more than five times over 30 days, the helicopter's primary mission was to prove that powered, controlled flight on another planet was possible, which it did on April 19, 2021. But Ingenuity exceeded expectations, transitioning into an operations demonstration that paved the way for future aerial exploration on the Red Planet and beyond.

So, have you ever wanted to know what it's like to fly a helicopter on another planet? Or what it's like to talk to the helicopter from here on Earth? Or what we've learned from Ingenuity that can be used for possible future aerial exploration on other worlds?

Meet our NASA experts from the mission who've seen it all.

We are:

• Josh Anderson - Ingenuity Team Lead (JA)
• Travis Brown - Ingenuity Chief Engineer (TB)
• Martin Cacan - Ingenuity Chief Pilot (MC)
• Dave Lavery - Ingenuity Program Executive (DL)
• Katie Stack Morgan - Mars 2020 Deputy Project Scientist (KSM)
• Noah Rothenberger - Ingenuity Robotics Systems Engineer (NR)
• Teddy Tzanetos - Ingenuity Project Manager (TT)

Ask us anything about:

• How Ingenuity worked
• What it's like to fly a helicopter on another planet
• Martian weather
• Ingenuity's legacy

PROOF: https://twitter.com/NASAJPL/status/1762248789396725933
https://twitter.com/NASAJPL/status/1762248789396725933

We'll be online from 9:30 - 11:00 a.m. PT (12:30-2:00 PM ET, 1430-1600 UTC) to answer your questions!

Username: /u/nasa

UPDATE: That’s all the time we have for today - thank you all for your amazing questions! If you’d like to learn more about Ingenuity, you can visit https://mars.nasa.gov/technology/helicopter/.