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
Jan 21, 2013
European technology key to early development of NASA crew vehicle
Jan 21, 2013
Engineers at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center have test-fired a gas generator built from parts originally manufactured for the F-1 first-stage engine that sent men to the Moon on the Saturn V. One reason for the tests is to learn if the old technology can help the planned Space Launch System (SLS) heavy lifter get off the pad for missions beyond low Earth orbit. Some of the engineers on the test series had not been born when the 40-year-old hardware was machined by North American Aviation's Rocketdyne Div.
Jan 21, 2013
Contamination concerns could mean Curiosity rover operational impact
Jan 21, 2013
NASA will pay Bigelow Aerospace $17.8 million to test this subscale inflatable habitat module at the International Space Station, using instruments and station crewmembers to study whether the technology will allow the housing of astronauts and their gear on their way to Mars.
Jan 21, 2013
NASA and Roscosmos work toward goals for one-year space mission
Jan 21, 2013
Supercomputers crunch solar data that may bring earthly benefits
Jan 20, 2013
Arabsat has finalised the mission definition for the BADR-7 satellite and confirmed the in-orbit delivery contract.
Jan 20, 2013
A new company is planning to launch human and robotic helium balloon missions to the very edge of space from within the UAE.