First Flight On Mars

On April 19, NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter became the first aircraft to fly on another planet.

Our most recent package details the historic first flight of the 4-lb. robotic rotorcraft, which lasted 39.1 seconds, and its follow-up venture on April 22, and looks ahead to its future test program. The technology lays the groundwork for aerial exploration of Mars, an aeronautical feat given the air density of Mars is less than 1% of the density on Earth. See below for more.

“How do we use aerial mobility in the future on Mars, to help not just robotic exploration, but to help human exploration?”
Ellen Stofan
Smithsonian
Aug 16, 2017
Orbital ATK’s medium-lift booster to put space surveillance satellite into orbit for U.S. Air Force.
Aug 15, 2017
Generation Orbit Launch Services is preparing for a critical series of hot-fire and captive-carry flight tests of its hypersonic flying testbed.
Aug 14, 2017
The U.S. Army’s 110-lb. satellite was launched from Cape Canaveral on Aug. 14 aboard SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft.
Aug 11, 2017
Low-cost satellite constellations provide alternative systems for gathering key weather and other data.
Aug 09, 2017
Four decades into their travels through the Solar System, Voyager I and II are still providing data and information about the Solar System and beyond.
Aug 09, 2017
Satellite manufacturers expect only 10-12 geosats to be ordered this year, solidifying a trend downward in the sector.
Aug 07, 2017
Airbus Voom hitches ride with Cabify, Ehang plans bigger eVTOL air taxi, SonicBAT tests humidity’s effect on booms, and smallsat launcher testing picks up pace.
Aug 03, 2017
The Trump administration could learn about defense-industrial policy from the Eisenhower administration’s 1953 review of U.S. strategy toward the Soviet Union.