---
title: "NASA’s Mars Helicopter Makes Contact After Ghosting for Over Two Months"
description: "After more than two months of radio silence, NASA's Ingenuity Mars helicopter has finally phoned home. And it's healthy."
date: "2023-07-05"
modified: "2023-07-05"
authors:
  - name: "Noor Al-Sibai"
    job_title: "Senior Staff Writer"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-mars-helicopter-contact-loss"
categories:
  - "Astronomy"
  - "Mars"
  - "NASA"
  - "Space"
tags:
  - "ingenuity"
  - "mars"
  - "NASA"
  - "the digest"
---

# NASA’s Mars Helicopter Makes Contact After Ghosting for Over Two Months

![After more than two months of radio silence, NASA's Ingenuity Mars helicopter has finally phoned home. And it's healthy.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/nasa-mars-helicopter-contact-loss.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: NASA / Futurism\</em\>*

## Copter Comeback

After more than two months of radio silence, NASA's Mars chopper has phoned home.

In a [news update](<https://mars.nasa.gov/news/9430/nasas-ingenuity-mars-helicopter-phones-home/>), NASA confirmed that it had regained contact with its Ingenuity helicopter, which began its 52nd flight on the Red Planet over two months ago on April 26.

As it descended onto the surface of Mars, Ingenuity's communication cut out, and mission control was not able to re-establish it until June 28, NASA said.

While a 63-day lag between transmissions seems lengthy, the team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab expected a potential communication dropout due to the hilly terrain between Ingenuity's dropoff location and the Perseverance rover that supplies its signal.

Despite the new literal obstacle, Ingenuity lives to see another day, an extraplanetary tour de force that has exceeded all expectations.

## Limited Reach

To re-establish a connection, the JPL team implemented a re-contact protocol for the rover and its helicopter buddy, which included driving the rover — which acts as a relay between the chopper and mission control back on Earth — over the hill and into signal range.

"The portion of Jezero Crater the rover and helicopter are currently exploring has a lot of rugged terrain, which makes communications dropouts more likely," said JPL’s Ingenuity team lead Josh Anderson in the NASA news update. "The team’s goal is to keep Ingenuity ahead of Perseverance, which occasionally involves temporarily pushing beyond communication limits."

Now that mission control has re-established contact with Ingenuity, it's sifting through the data it collected during those two months it was out of touch. By all accounts, it seems that the chopper is healthy and ready for its next flight.

While experts predicted that there could be a loss of signal as the little helicopter lost sight of its rover companion, we're still glad it got back to mission control after ghosting them for months.

**More on Mars:** [*Scientists Attempt to Explain Mars Rock With Hole Straight Through It*](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/scientists-mars-rock-hole-donut>)

## Author
At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/noorfromfuturism.bsky.social>)