NASA lost contact with it Ingenuity small helicopter to Marswhile making its 72nd flyby of the red planet, the US space agency announced, noting that it is looking for a way to re-establish communication with it.

The helicopter, which looks like a large, unmanned aircraft, in 2021 became the first powered flying device to make a flight to another planet. He reached Mars with the Perseverance roverwhich acts as a “go-between”, collecting Ingenuity’s data and relaying it back to Earth.

Ingenuity reached a height of 12 meters on Thursday’s flight, she explained NASA. But during the descent process, communication between the helicopter and the rover was lost prematurely, before landing. The teams responsible for the helicopter are “analyzing the available data and considering next steps to restore communication,” the US agency added.

This flight was made in order to check the helicopter’s systems, because in the previous one it had landed earlier than planned.

In his post on X platform to Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) of NASAwhich built the helicopter, said the Perseverance rover cannot currently “see” Ingenuity but is considering approaching the area for a “visual inspection.”

NASA had also lost contact with the helicopter in the past, like last year, when it didn’t communicate with it for two months. However, that communication breakdown was to be expected.

Ingenuity, which weighs just 1.8 kilograms, was originally intended to make only five flights, but the mission exceeded all expectations. In total, it ran 17 kilometers and reached a height of 24 meters. Its longevity is remarkable, given that it has to “survive” the cold of the Martian night and is only heated by its solar panels that charge its batteries during the day. Thus, it evolved into a permanent “companion” of the Perseverance rover, whose mission is to search for traces of ancient life on Mars.