#ingenuity

but how about:

the patron saints of last messages and quiet goodbyes

the patron saint of overstaying your welcome

the patron saint of being small, afraid, and doing it anyway

the patron saint of first steps you can never take back

the patron saint of flying for the ones who couldn't

the patron saints of asking "are we alone?" and only hearing your echo

Sad day for Martians,

Ingenuity, the ‘little helicopter that could’, the first ever helicopter to fly on another planet is down. It took its final flight on the 18th of January where one or more of its roter blades were damaged.

We weren’t even sure it was possible to fly a helicopter on Mars before Ingenuity, and yet this tiny little shoe box of a helicopter managed to fly in an atmosphere less than 1% as dense as Earth’s, flying a total of 72 times in the last 3 years, far exceeding the 5 planned flights.

Having arrived on Mars hitched to the Perseverance rover’s belly, this little guy has spent these 3 years scoutting ahead for Perseverance. But now Perseverance will have to continue its mission without Ingenuity. For the first time since its creation, Perseverance is on its own in that endless red desert.