NASA experts managed to reestablish communication with the Ingenuity helicopter on Mars a day after the signal was lost. This update was officially reported by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory on the social platform X (formerly Twitter).
Officials from the space agency explained that the team resolved the issue by guiding the Perseverance rover to the drone’s last landing location and conducting extended listening sessions to recover transmissions from Ingenuity.
“The team is examining new data to better understand the unexpected communications failure on Ingenuity’s 72nd flight,” NASA stated.
The incident occurred during a planned helicopter flight. The vehicle reached a maximum altitude of about 12 meters and sent status information through the Perseverance rover, but the signal was lost during descent before the craft touched Mars’ surface. The helicopter landed out of visual range from its ground teammate.
Ingenuity and Perseverance have operated on Mars since 2020. It was initially anticipated that the helicopter would perform no more than five flights, yet its service life exceeded early expectations. Today, the drone supports aerial reconnaissance, helping the rover identify safer and more efficient routes for exploration.
NASA officials emphasized that contact with Ingenuity’s communications had been temporarily lost in this instance, underscoring the ongoing challenges of maintaining robust links in the Martian environment, and the efforts to restore them swiftly.