The tiny copter took off on January 18 but lost contact with the commands team and when communication was regained, one of the craft’s blades showed damage.

Ingenuity was originally designed to perform up to five experimental test flights over 30 days when it first landed in 2023.

But the helicopter, which cost $85 million, surpassed expectations with 72 flights and flew more than 14 times farther than planned while logging more than two hours of total flight time.

Data showed he helicopter achieved a maximum altitude of 40 feet and hovered for 4.5 seconds before starting its descent at a velocity of 3.3 feet per second on its last fatal flight.

The tiny copter took flight on January 18 but endured damage that broke one of its blades, which ended its three-year mission on the Martian world. The last image from Ingenuity shows its blade was damaged during the flight

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said: ‘The historic journey of Ingenuity, the first aircraft on another planet, has come to end.

‘That remarkable helicopter flew higher and farther than we ever imagined and helped NASA do what we do best – make the impossible, possible.

‘Through missions like Ingenuity, NASA is paving the way for future flight in our solar system and smarter, safer human exploration to Mars and beyond.’

Ingenuity soared about three feet above the surface, as planned, but lost contact with the Perseverance rover that serves as the copter’s communications relay.

The following day, communications were reestablished and more information about the flight was relayed to ground controllers at NASA JPL.

However, an image beamed back to NASA revealed damage to the rotor blade.

The craft is standing upright and communicating with mission control, but NASA suspected more than one blade may have suffered damage – meaning it is forever grounded.

‘The cause of the communications dropout and the helicopter’s orientation at time of touchdown are still being investigated,’ NASA shared.

NASA’s history-making Ingenuity Mars helicopter has signed off after becoming the first manmade craft to fly on another planet – in what the agency called its ‘Wright brothers moment

Ingenuity’s project manager, Teddy Tzanetos, said: ‘It’s humbling Ingenuity not only carries onboard a swatch from the original Wright Flyer, but also this helicopter followed in its footsteps and proved flight is possible on another world.

‘The Mars helicopter would have never flown once, much less 72 times, if it were not for the passion and dedication of the Ingenuity and Perseverance teams.

‘History’s first Mars helicopter will leave behind an indelible mark on the future of space exploration and will inspire fleets of aircraft on Mars – and other worlds – for decades to come.’

The tissue-box sized aircraft, which hitched a ride to the Red Planet under the belly of the Perseverance rover, first lifted off the surface on April 19, 2021.

NASA deemed the flight as a ‘Wright brother moment’ due to it being the first craft from Earth to soar on a different planet.

‘Like the Wright brothers, what they did back here on Earth at the early part of the last century, Ingenuity has paved the way for future flight in our solar system, and it’s leading the way for smarter, safer human missions to Mars and beyond,’ Nelson said.

The tissue-box sized aircraft, which hitched a ride to the Red Planet under the belly of the Perseverance rover (right). The duo parted ways on April 6, 2021 – but snapped a selfie to remember their time together

Pictured is Ingenuity four days before taking its first flight on April 19, 2021

Perseverance and Ingenuity launched on July 30, 2020 and traveled 239 million miles to Mars, landing February 2021.

The rover and copter survived the ‘seven minutes of terror’ when they endured tumultuous conditions that battered the craft as it entered the Martian atmosphere and approached the surface.

Perseverance shot like a speeding bullet through the atmosphere at 12,000mph and successfully deployed the sonic parachute that slowed it down to make a soft landing on the surface.

Perseverance touched down at the base of an 820-foot-deep crater called Jezero, a former lake home to water 3.5 billion years ago.

And on April 19, 2021, Ingenuity performed its first flight. Pictures is a image snapped by the helicopter, capturing its shadow on the Martian surface

The Martian surface is littered with craters, but the Jezero Crater is special because it has an inflow and outflow channel.

The spent two months traveling toward the crater where they separated ways.

NASA shared an image taken by the rover as it looked down on the small copter that stood 13 feet away, which commemorated one of their final moments together.

And on April 19, 2021, Ingenuity performed its first flight.

‘With flight operations now concluded, the Ingenuity team will perform final tests on helicopter systems and download the remaining imagery and data in Ingenuity’s onboard memory,’ NASA shared in the announcement.

‘The Perseverance rover is currently too far away to attempt to image the helicopter at its final airfield.’