The Mars helicopter Ingenuity could operate as a weather station for an additional 20 years.

Engineers reported that following a hard landing that occurred after the 72nd flight of the craft in mid-January 2024, all sensors, batteries, and avionics systems remained intact and are functioning perfectly. Therefore, Ingenuity will continue to operate as a sort of weather station, recording telemetry, taking images every sol (solar day on Mars), and storing them in its memory.

According to engineers' estimates, Ingenuity could operate for another 20 years. However, in the coming years, scientists will not have the opportunity to retrieve this data, as the Perseverance rover, which facilitated Ingenuity's communication with Earth to send data, is currently located three kilometers away from the drone.

Specialists from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory explained that they spent several months accurately determining the cause of Ingenuity's crash. They concluded that the helicopter's onboard navigation sensors failed to distinguish the surface texture features of Mars, which led to an inability to accurately determine its position; consequently, when the craft landed, it struck the planet's surface.

In any case, the Ingenuity program has proven to be incredibly successful. The helicopter was designed to complete only five flights on Mars, yet it has achieved a total of 72.