As a Mars helicopter continues to operate far past expectations, its lessons are being incorporated into NASA’s evolving Mars Sample Return plans.

cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/12123157

Key info:

The success of Ingenuity has also affected NASA’s plans for Mars Sample Return (MSR). The agency, in cooperation with the European Space Agency, announced in July 2022 that it will include two helicopters based on Ingenuity on a future lander that will take the samples collected by Perseverance and launch them into orbit. Those helicopters will be a backup if Perseverance itself is not able to deliver samples to the lander by transporting samples from a surface cache to the lander.

I’m super impressed with Ingenuity, and can’t wait for more Martian helicopters! The Dragonfly mission to Titan also sounds awesome.