On Tue, 20 Apr 2021 14:29:28 +1200, I wrote:
The first powered aircraft on Mars... is not expected to endure beyond the initial 30 days of the Perseverance mission.
It endured well beyond that, and has continued to fly until very recently. But it has now had a hiccup <https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/05/after-an-amazing-run-on-mars-nasas-helicopter-faces-a-long-dark-winter/>, seemingly caused by an accumulation of dust on its solar panels limiting its ability to recharge its batteries. The ground controllers were able to recover the situation, but it looks like the days of the days of the plucky little Linux-powered helicopter are numbered. Note how the importance of this little afterthought to the main Mars mission has grown as it has proven its worth: So, the engineering team commanded Perseverance to halt all of its ongoing science activities for a full day to essentially sit there and listen intently for Ingenuity's call. The significance of this decision is that the helicopter was initially viewed as an add-on technology demonstration. Some of the rover's leadership team did not even want the added risk of bringing Ingenuity along. The helicopter was supposed to make five experimental flights in 30 days and then be set aside. Now, the entire Mars mission was being put on hold, nearly 13 months after Ingenuity's first flight, in the hopes of saving the small vehicle. And they did it. For now.