The Brave Little Flying Toaster
January 25, 2024 3:08 PM Subscribe
The Ingenuity helicopter will fly no more. After three years and more than 2 hours of cumulative flying time, the first human craft to fly on Mars is grounded.
Although the craft is still in contact with mission control and is still relaying data, damage sustained by the 4-lb helicopter has deprived it of its ability to fly.
Although the craft is still in contact with mission control and is still relaying data, damage sustained by the 4-lb helicopter has deprived it of its ability to fly.
Good Night Ingy
It's always so heartwarmingly awesome when these gizmos last so much longer than we think they will.
posted by gottabefunky at 3:20 PM on January 25 [1 favorite]
It's always so heartwarmingly awesome when these gizmos last so much longer than we think they will.
posted by gottabefunky at 3:20 PM on January 25 [1 favorite]
As linked in the Mefi post about Ingenuity’s first flight, there’s now a little stamp-sized swatch of the Wright Brothers’ plane that’s going to stay parked on Mars for the foreseeable future. The Wright Flyer flew just four times, while Ingenuity managed 72.
posted by zamboni at 3:26 PM on January 25 [17 favorites]
posted by zamboni at 3:26 PM on January 25 [17 favorites]
.
posted by Faint of Butt at 3:29 PM on January 25
posted by Faint of Butt at 3:29 PM on January 25
Does HobbyKing have a Mars warehouse?
posted by genpfault at 4:03 PM on January 25 [4 favorites]
posted by genpfault at 4:03 PM on January 25 [4 favorites]
.
posted by brundlefly at 4:13 PM on January 25
posted by brundlefly at 4:13 PM on January 25
Okay, well, wasn't expecting to get misty about this, but here we are, in this reality.
posted by hippybear at 4:15 PM on January 25 [4 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 4:15 PM on January 25 [4 favorites]
.
posted by brambleboy at 5:03 PM on January 25
posted by brambleboy at 5:03 PM on January 25
It's always so heartwarmingly awesome when these gizmos last so much longer than we think they will.
We should aspire to that in all our gizmos.
posted by mhoye at 5:13 PM on January 25 [3 favorites]
We should aspire to that in all our gizmos.
posted by mhoye at 5:13 PM on January 25 [3 favorites]
.
posted by cupcakeninja at 5:21 PM on January 25
posted by cupcakeninja at 5:21 PM on January 25
Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Mars
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling scarves
of sun-split clouds,—and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of—wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there,
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air ....
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark nor ever eagle flew—
And, while with silent lifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.
(I'm not a poet so please forgive my fumbling rhyme of Mars to scarves)
posted by mephisjo at 5:41 PM on January 25 [9 favorites]
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling scarves
of sun-split clouds,—and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of—wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there,
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air ....
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark nor ever eagle flew—
And, while with silent lifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.
(I'm not a poet so please forgive my fumbling rhyme of Mars to scarves)
posted by mephisjo at 5:41 PM on January 25 [9 favorites]
.
The first of many drones on other worlds, I hope. A real pathfinder, if you will. Dragonfly looks pretty cool, and I look forward to seeing what it finds.
posted by mollweide at 6:00 PM on January 25 [1 favorite]
The first of many drones on other worlds, I hope. A real pathfinder, if you will. Dragonfly looks pretty cool, and I look forward to seeing what it finds.
posted by mollweide at 6:00 PM on January 25 [1 favorite]
Oh. It always hurts my heart to think of it, still, in the resting sense, up there. Thank you to all who helped it soar and work so hard.
posted by tiny frying pan at 6:20 PM on January 25 [3 favorites]
posted by tiny frying pan at 6:20 PM on January 25 [3 favorites]
I remember when flying toasters were the stuff of science fiction and screen savers.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 6:20 PM on January 25 [10 favorites]
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 6:20 PM on January 25 [10 favorites]
Not to worry. I'm guessing Mark Watney will find a use for it. Or some other space pirate :)
posted by baegucb at 6:31 PM on January 25 [5 favorites]
posted by baegucb at 6:31 PM on January 25 [5 favorites]
Maybe one day, it will have a park built around it, like Spirit.
posted by water under the bridge at 6:52 PM on January 25 [3 favorites]
posted by water under the bridge at 6:52 PM on January 25 [3 favorites]
I just can’t believe it’s been three years.
posted by Thorzdad at 7:07 PM on January 25 [1 favorite]
posted by Thorzdad at 7:07 PM on January 25 [1 favorite]
Sadly Updike is no longer with us, so he cannot write a poem for this particular Martian robot.
posted by hippybear at 7:10 PM on January 25 [1 favorite]
posted by hippybear at 7:10 PM on January 25 [1 favorite]
Too bad AAA tow service doesn't extend to Mars...
Does it not? Perhaps one of Elon's colonists would be willing to stick a bit of duct tape on it.
posted by flabdablet at 7:49 PM on January 25 [2 favorites]
Does it not? Perhaps one of Elon's colonists would be willing to stick a bit of duct tape on it.
posted by flabdablet at 7:49 PM on January 25 [2 favorites]
Like, honestly, Elon has a car out there, and as far as I know AAA has entirely refused to respond.
posted by hippybear at 7:52 PM on January 25 [2 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 7:52 PM on January 25 [2 favorites]
.
posted by skyscraper at 8:00 PM on January 25
posted by skyscraper at 8:00 PM on January 25
When I first heard about the Mars-copter, I expected it would manage a couple of awkward tiny hops then topple over to become little more than a fascinating footnote in space history... I'm so glad that my prediction turned out horribly wrong! What an amazing tool for exploration Ingenuity became. Send more!
posted by neonamber at 8:39 PM on January 25 [2 favorites]
posted by neonamber at 8:39 PM on January 25 [2 favorites]
Like, honestly, Elon has a car out there, and as far as I know AAA has entirely refused to respond.
He probably didn't spring for their Emergency Planetside Service, because he knew he was about to splurge on Twitter, and had to budget for driving it into the ground for no remotely logical reason.
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:06 PM on January 25 [2 favorites]
He probably didn't spring for their Emergency Planetside Service, because he knew he was about to splurge on Twitter, and had to budget for driving it into the ground for no remotely logical reason.
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:06 PM on January 25 [2 favorites]
Reporting this, the BBC today program said something to the effect of "the Rover will now have to continue on its own, leaving the ingenuity behind in the Martian desert". Reader, I did not ask to have more feeling about robots first thing in the morning.
posted by thegirlwiththehat at 11:16 PM on January 25 [8 favorites]
posted by thegirlwiththehat at 11:16 PM on January 25 [8 favorites]
Bravo, first Martian helicopter. Send more indeed.
posted by doctornemo at 3:22 AM on January 26
posted by doctornemo at 3:22 AM on January 26
No, you were the best.
This is one of the good times to anthropomorphize technology. The little guy did it!
posted by AzraelBrown at 6:36 AM on January 26 [1 favorite]
This is one of the good times to anthropomorphize technology. The little guy did it!
posted by AzraelBrown at 6:36 AM on January 26 [1 favorite]
So many people put such care into designing and building those machines, they're like velveteen rabbits. They acquire souls.
People design them, engineer them, make the parts, assemble, program, patchwork together all these incredibly delicate bits that also have to be incredibly tough and enduring, with failsafes and fallbacks for when their tolerances give way, or when one unlucky or unforeseen thing happens.
And they send them off, these little machines as perfect as anything humanity can make, on a one-way trip to an environment that will do its best to kill them, and finally succeed.
Cassini's mission was supposed to last 4 years; it lasted 13 (not counting 6 years of journey time) and was still going at the end-- it had to be told to fail.
Opportunity was supposed to last 90 days; it lasted 14 years. People spent their studies and careers on it.
They're not alive. Yet they have a lifespan, and there are emotions when they reach the end.
They're not alive. But they are loved.
posted by Pallas Athena at 8:33 AM on January 26 [2 favorites]
People design them, engineer them, make the parts, assemble, program, patchwork together all these incredibly delicate bits that also have to be incredibly tough and enduring, with failsafes and fallbacks for when their tolerances give way, or when one unlucky or unforeseen thing happens.
And they send them off, these little machines as perfect as anything humanity can make, on a one-way trip to an environment that will do its best to kill them, and finally succeed.
Cassini's mission was supposed to last 4 years; it lasted 13 (not counting 6 years of journey time) and was still going at the end-- it had to be told to fail.
Opportunity was supposed to last 90 days; it lasted 14 years. People spent their studies and careers on it.
They're not alive. Yet they have a lifespan, and there are emotions when they reach the end.
They're not alive. But they are loved.
posted by Pallas Athena at 8:33 AM on January 26 [2 favorites]
Is it just iOS safari being dumb? I can’t open monotreme’s link; it keeps trying to treat it as a phone number to call.
posted by xedrik at 11:56 AM on January 26
posted by xedrik at 11:56 AM on January 26
iOS is making it a link. 0010 1110 is the ascii code for a period in binary.
posted by Mitheral at 12:19 PM on January 26 [1 favorite]
posted by Mitheral at 12:19 PM on January 26 [1 favorite]
it's not a link, it's the ASCII code for period-of-mourning, 0x2E or "."
posted by k3ninho at 12:44 PM on January 26 [1 favorite]
posted by k3ninho at 12:44 PM on January 26 [1 favorite]
I named my laptop after this guy, I hope it lasts longer. Relax in peace, space copter.
posted by rebent at 4:44 PM on January 26
posted by rebent at 4:44 PM on January 26
Try to avoid slamming the corners into rocks as you put it down, and it should do.
posted by flabdablet at 4:46 PM on January 26
posted by flabdablet at 4:46 PM on January 26
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posted by Greg_Ace at 3:15 PM on January 25 [2 favorites]