NASA: NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter became the first aircraft in history to make a powered, controlled flight on another planet. “Now, 117 years after the Wright brothers succeeded in making the first flight on our planet, NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter has succeeded in performing this amazing feat on another world,” Zurbuchen said. As one of NASA’s technology demonstration projects, the 19.3-inch-tall (49-centimeter-tall) Ingenuity Mars Helicopter contains no science instruments inside its tissue-box-size fuselage. If the helicopter survives the second flight test, the Ingenuity team will consider how best to expand the flight profile. Dave Lavery is the program executive for the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, MiMi Aung is the project manager, and Bob Balaram is the chief engineer.

Source: The Nation April 19, 2021 14:05 UTC