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
Jul 08, 2014
Life support in space holds lessons for the Earth
Jul 03, 2014
European business, general aviation sectors cite hurdles to space-based approaches
Jul 03, 2014
Out-of-autoclave hydrogen cryotank could trim costs, boost performance
Jul 03, 2014
A version of this article appears in the June 30 edition of Aviation Week & Space Technology.
Jul 02, 2014
U.K. is leading the way in space-based precision landings
Jul 01, 2014
Flight-Control advances promise big savings
Jun 28, 2014
"This is sort of new territory we were in," said NASA Low Density Supersonic Decelerator engineer Dan Coatta. "Our test goals were to inflate the balloon, launch, get up to altitude successfully, drop off the balloon, have the rocket motor fire and get up to speed."
Jun 27, 2014
But will they webcast it?