--- title: "NASA’s Mars Helicopter Achieves Flight on Red Planet" description: "NASA's Mars helicopter Ingenuity became the first vehicle to achieve powered, controlled flight on the surface of another planet earlier this morning." date: "2021-04-19" modified: "2021-04-19" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/nasa-mars-helicopter-flies-red-planet" categories: - "Astronomy" - "Mars" - "NASA" - "Space" tags: - "ingenuity" - "mars" - "mars helicopter" - "NASA" - "perseverance" --- # NASA’s Mars Helicopter Achieves Flight on Red Planet ![NASA's Mars helicopter Ingenuity became the first vehicle to achieve powered, controlled flight on the surface of another planet earlier this morning.]() *\Image: NASA\* NASA's Mars helicopter has made history. [Ingenuity](), a small, four-pound rotorcraft that was [dropped off]() by the agency's Perseverance rover earlier this year, became the first manmade object to achieve powered, controlled flight on the surface of another planet earlier this morning. It's a feat that could [revolutionize the way]() we explore the surface of other planets, including Mars, in the medium-term future. "You wouldn’t believe what I just saw," Perseverance's official Twitter account wrote, taking the tone of a proud parent. Images taken by the rover from several hundred feet away show the tiny helicopter zip up several feet into the air after spinning up its twin rotors. The helicopter spun up its wings to 2,500 revolutions per minute — much faster than helicopter blades back on Earth — and flew to a height of around ten feet. It managed to hover there for roughly 30 seconds before making its descent. The news comes after Ingenuity had to delay its flight by roughly a week to complete a [software update](). https://twitter.com/NASAPersevere/status/1384104815567855626 During its historic first flight, Ingenuity — "the little rotorcraft that could," as NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) [dubbed it]() this morning — took the time to snap a picture of the dusty area below it. Its shadow can be seen imprinted below — more unmistakable proof that the helicopter actually did take flight. ![]() The engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab were ecstatic. Elated after years of hard work coming to fruition, Ingenuity project manager MiMi Aung could be seen ripping up contingency papers on camera. https://twitter.com/Dr_ThomasZ/status/1384106075561938952 "Ingenuity's reporting that it has performed spin up, take off, climb, hover, descent, landing, touchdown, and spin down," Håvard Grip, Ingenuity chief pilot at JPL, could be heard saying, followed by cheers and applause in the control room. "Ingenuity has performed its first flight — the first flight of a powered aircraft on another planet!" he added. "We've been talking for so long about our Wright brothers moment," Aung said. "And here it is." "As an homage to the two innovative bicycle makers from Dayton, this first of many airfields on other worlds will now be known as Wright Brothers Field," NASA associate administrator Thomas Zurbuchen wrote in [a tweet]() commemorating the moment. It's a groundbreaking moment in off-world planet exploration. "It's important to have the aerial dimension in the context of human exploration of Mars, of which we're dreaming \[about\], even now," Zurbuchen [said]() during NASA's official stream. "Perseverance got us to Mars," NASA's JPL Twitter account [wrote](). "With Ingenuity, we soar higher." **More on Ingenuity:** *[NASA Says Oops, Mars Helicopter Needs Software Update to Fly ]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()