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 04, 2014
Adoption of a catalog procurement mechanism puts hosted payloads on the horizon
Jul 29, 2014
Pluto flyby likely to expand the Solar System
Jul 28, 2014
Challenges abound, but off-planet manufacturing can expedite exploration
Jul 28, 2014
During the Farnborough International Airshow this month, Israel Aerospace Industries CEO and President Joseph Weiss talked with Paris Bureau Chief Amy Svitak, about plans to expand the company’s presence in the global space sector with exports of remote-sensing and communications satellites.
Jul 26, 2014
California company sees 5% workforce reduction
Jul 23, 2014
After the SpaceX protest, U.S. Air Force seeks more-competitive launch opportunities
Jul 22, 2014
The surface of Mars is the most ambitious target for human explorers in the foreseeable future, given the state of technology, funding and political will today, according to a U.S. National Research Council study team that examined the issue over the past year and a half.