"When running an accident investigation from 100 million miles away, you don't have any black boxes!" NASA's Håvard Grip said.

Relying on remote data, including photographs taken after the flight, the investigators believe that “navigation errors created high horizontal velocities at touchdown,” which most likely resulted in Ingenuity experiencing a “hard impact on the sand ripple’s slope,” causing it to pitch and roll.

A new NASA report finally reveals the most likely cause behind the tragic crash of the Mars helicopter, Ingenuity.

The Perseverance rover has reached the top of the Jezero Crater rim on Mars, a hike that rose 1,640 feet — higher than the Empire State Building is tall.

NASA built the Ingenuity helicopter for a quick jaunt around Mars. However, the aircraft was unexpectedly sturdy, completing an incredible 72 flights before its mission came to an end following a hard landing early this year.

Even in death, NASA's Ingenuity helicopter is helping us learn about Mars. The small aircraft met the demise of its main mission on 18 January 2024, after nearly three epic years of flitting around in the thin Martian atmosphere,