What the 'otherworldly wreckage' captured on Mars' surface by NASA's Ingenuity helicopter actually was

NASA’s Ingenuity Helicopter and Perseverance Rover pictured some very eerie wreckage on the surface of Mars in November 2024.

The helicopter completed over 70 flights over the surface of the planet, and one of those flights captured some ‘otherworldly’ sights.

Images show what looked like the wreck of another craft, and the sight of this on such a vast and empty planet was certainly a spooky one.

Of course, that led to lots of speculation as to what the helicopter had found, with NASA eventually revealing what Ingenuity had come across.

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NASA released the images of the wreck at the end of 2024, and they certainly caused a stir.

The Ingenuity Helicopter was carried by the Mars Perseverance Rover that NASA sent to the planet in 2020.

The helicopter was due to make just five space flights over Mars, but in the end, it completed 72.

It had the honor of being the first aircraft to complete a powered and controlled flight on another world.

During these flights, Ingenuity spotted some interesting items lying across the surface of Mars.

These were other crafts, and some people naturally wondered if they might be from aliens.

However, NASA quickly put those rumors to bed.

What the helicopter had found was part of the landing equipment used to bring Ingenuity and Perseverance onto Mars.

As there is no easy way to clear up the wreckage, it will likely stay on Mars for the rest of time.

Space exploration has sadly become a messy business.

Satellites and other craft we no longer use now constantly orbit the Earth with no way of bringing them back safely.

So what NASA’s helicopter found isn’t something that we, as a species, should be proud of.

But with many determined to one day send humans to Mars, we could finally begin to clean up our mess.

Some of it, however, could remain forever, as reminders of space exploration and our first trips to Mars.

For those who thought another species had visited Mars, though, sadly, that wasn’t the case.

What Ingenuity found was simply the remains of humans’ efforts to learn more about the Red Planet.

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