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
Feb 25, 2015
Complex constellation of four spacecraft will characterize what happens when magnetospheres collide.
Feb 25, 2015
Long-delayed NASA James Webb Space Telescope to run tests of critical instruments this summer.
Feb 23, 2015
Why NASA needs an Asteroid Deflection Technology Development program, rather than an Asteroid Redirect Mission.
Feb 23, 2015
President Barack Obama has vowed that the U.S. would be “pushing out into the Solar System, not just to visit, but to stay.”
Feb 21, 2015
"I worked up a lather on that one," quipped NASA spacewalker Barry "Butch" Wilmore. "You guys have done just a superb job," noted Mission Control.
Feb 19, 2015
In the future, most astronauts will select themselves, largely on the basis of their ability to buy a ticket.
Feb 19, 2015
Seeing an end to its monopoly, ULA turns toward a commercial model.
Feb 18, 2015
ESA’s final ATV mission means Russia’s Progress freighter is the only vehicle left to reboost and ultimately de-orbit the ISS.