NASA’s miniature robot helicopter Ingenuity performed a successful takeoff and landing on Mars early on Monday 19 April 2021, achieving the first powered, controlled flight by an aircraft over the surface of another planet, the U.S. space agency said.
The twin-rotor whirligig’s debut on the Red Planet marked a 21st-century Wright Brothers moment for NASA, which said success could pave the way for new modes of exploration on Mars and other destinations in the solar system, such as Venus and Saturn’s moon Titan.
Mission managers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) near Los Angeles burst into applause and cheers as engineering data beamed back from Mars confirmed that the 4-pound (1.8-kg) solar-powered helicopter had performed its maiden 39-second flight as planned three hours earlier.
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