Ingenuity helicopter
Ingenuity was a small NASA helicopter that made the first powered flights on another planet, on Mars, from 2021 to 2024.
Ingenuity was a tiny helicopter weighing about 1.8 kilograms that travelled to Mars attached to the belly of the Perseverance rover. On 19 April 2021, it lifted off in Jezero crater, hovered for about 39 seconds and landed, the first powered, controlled flight on another planet.
Flying on Mars is hard because the air is less than 1 per cent as thick as Earth's. Ingenuity's two rotors, each about 1.2 metres across, spun at around 2,400 revolutions per minute to create enough lift. It was planned to make five test flights, but it made 72, scouting the way ahead for the rover.
In January 2024, a rotor blade was damaged during landing and flights ended. Ingenuity proved that aircraft can explore other worlds. Future helicopters might fly over Martian cliffs and canyons that rovers cannot reach, perhaps even spotting meteorites lying on the surface.
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