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 04, 2015
Google Lunar XPrize grants contestants more time and money to meet a difficult goal.
Feb 04, 2015
An annual assessment of NASA’s human spaceflight programs points to safety risks resulting from a lack of transparency and a disconnect between program goals and funding.
Feb 04, 2015
NASA’s fiscal 2016 budget request continues to feature past policies, and is likely to experience past partisan battles on Capitol Hill as well.
Feb 03, 2015
Estonia spends several hundred million euros a year on space activities.
Feb 02, 2015
A launch described as the vital key to faster broadband on aircraft took place yesterday as Inmarsat saw the successful launch of its second Global Xpress (GX) satellite (Inmarsat-5 F2) on board an International Launch Services (ILS) Proton Breeze M rocket launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
Feb 02, 2015
A launch described as the vital key to faster broadband on aircraft took place yesterday as Inmarsat saw the successful launch of its second Global Xpress (GX) satellite (Inmarsat-5 F2) on board an International Launch Services (ILS) Proton Breeze M rocket launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
Feb 02, 2015
Since unveiling plans in January to build rival networks of hundreds, or even thousands, of Internet satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO), SpaceX and OneWeb are prompting comparisons with past ventures that flopped, among them Teledesic and Skybridge, two well-financed start-ups whose visions of delivering high-speed broadband to the masses were thwarted by technical setbacks.
Jan 30, 2015
NASA and its commercial crew partners open up about their plans, now that the legal hurdles have been cleared.