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
May 27, 2015
Astrosat, India’s first astronomy-centered satellite, is set for launch in about five months; the parameters of the spacecraft are “normal, which indicates everything is functioning well,” ISRO states.
May 27, 2015
Vricon aims to reduce the cost and increase the speed of 3-D images for the military, intelligence and civilian customers.
May 26, 2015
Real-time space vehicle data will help the FAA deploy dynamic protective boundaries around a plethora of space activities set to begin in the next few years.
May 22, 2015
Images gathered May 16 with cameras from an altitude of 4,500 miles have again prompted speculation the spacecraft has spotted ice deposits on the 600 mile wide minor planet.
May 22, 2015
Aerojet consortium may challenge ULA’s monopoly of national security launch market.
May 21, 2015
Our roundup of the top stories in aerospace and defense from the last two weeks.
May 20, 2015
A longtime space-engineering company is about to take the plunge into commercial space with a commercial hyperspectral imager for the International Space Station.
May 20, 2015
The U.S. space agency faces a $150 million bill to human-rate an upper stage for one flight.