Chapter 1 of 5

A new sky

From riding with Perseverance to the first powered flight on another planet

Told in Ingenuity’s imagined voice · the events are real · source

NASA's Perseverance Mars rover took a selfie with the Ingenuity helicopter, seen here about 13 feet (3.9 meters) from the rover in this image taken April 6, 2021, the 46th Martian day, or sol, of the mission by the WATSO
IngenuityI reached Mars tucked beneath a rover.
NASA/JPL-Caltech
01Perseverance carried me on the mission launched July 30, 2020, and landed with me on February 18, 2021. I was a technology experiment, built to test a new way of moving through the thin Martian air.
Under my solar panel, a small piece of an older adventure came along.
02A swatch of muslin from the Wright brothers’ first airplane was attached beneath my panel. It connected an Earth flight milestone with a test on another world.
This image was taken after the first flight of NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter — and the first powered, controlled flight on another planet.
IngenuityNo one on Earth could steer me through that first hover.
NASA/JPL-Caltech
03My onboard guidance, navigation and control algorithms flew me autonomously. The communication journey was too long for a live joystick; the team checked the returned data afterward.
On April 19, 2021, I lifted into a new sky.
04At Wright Brothers Field, I rose three meters, hovered for 30 seconds and landed after 39.1 seconds in the air. It was the first powered, controlled flight on another planet.

The big idea

A small autonomous aircraft demonstrated flight in Mars’s thin atmosphere. Short does not mean unimportant.

Think about it

Why did this flight need its own onboard guidance?

Fact file

Mass
1.8 kilograms
Mass remains the same on Earth and Mars. Weight changes with gravity.
Source ↗
First flight
19 April 2021 / 39.1 seconds
Total flight time; the hover alone lasted 30 seconds.
Source ↗
First-flight altitude
3 meters
Prescribed maximum altitude reported from altimeter data.
Source ↗

In this chapter: Lightweight helicopter, counter-rotating rotors, solar panel, onboard guidance and Wright Flyer fabric

Sources: Main record · Ingenuity Mars Helicopter · NASA Science · Pride of the West — and Mars · PIA24438

Machine illustration: AI-made. Photos: NASA Image and Video Library, credited on each picture.

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