The NASA helicopter Ingenuity on Mars made the first powered controlled flights by an aircraft on a planet other than Earth.[1][2] It first flew on April 19, 2021, after landing on February 18 attached to the underside of the Perseverance rover.[3] Ingenuity weighs 1.8 kilograms (4.0 lb) and is 49 cm (19 in) tall. It is powered by six lithium-ion solar-charged batteries.[4] It was built and operated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), a field center of NASA. Ingenuity was designed to fly five times in 30 Mars sols (31 Earth days), but operated far above expectations, making its 72nd and final flight on January 18, 2024 (UTC), 977 Mars sols (1,004 Earth days) after its first flight. One or more of its rotor blades were damaged during that flight's landing, causing NASA to retire the craft.[5][6]
- ^ AFP Staff Writers (Apr 19, 2021). "Ingenuity helicopter successfully flew on Mars: NASA". Mars Daily. ScienceDaily. Retrieved 2021-04-19.
- ^ Palca, Joe (19 April 2021). "Success! NASA's Ingenuity Makes First Powered Flight On Mars". National Public Radio. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
- ^ Clarke, Stephen (14 May 2018). "Helicopter to accompany NASA's next Mars rover to Red Planet". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved May 10, 2022.
- ^ "Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Landing Press Kit" (PDF). NASA. January 2021. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
- ^ "After Three Years on Mars, NASA's Ingenuity Helicopter Mission Ends". Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
- ^ NASA Science Live: Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Tribute & Legacy, 31 January 2024, retrieved 2024-02-01