The shadow of NASA’s ingenuity is seen on the surface of Mars as the helicopter hovered during its first flight on April 19, 2021.
NASA / JPL-Caltech
Here’s a look at NASA’s historic flight of a plane to Mars, a feat the space agency called the “Wright Brothers moment”.
NASA’s Perseverance rover captured images of the flight after rolling a short distance, with one of its navigation cameras showing a sequence before, during and after the helicopter’s flight.
The video from NASA’s Perseverance rover shows the wit of the helicopter spinning the rovers, gliding and then landing on Mars.
NASA / JPL-Caltech
The wit, which weighs 4 pounds, flew successfully autonomously for 39 seconds.
NASA’s Perseverance rover captured the helicopter’s ingenuity on the surface of Mars on April 18, 2021 before its first flight.
NASA / JPL-Caltech
A camera on NASA’s Perseverance rover shows the helicopter’s ingenuity flying over the surface of Mars on April 19, 2021.
NASA / JPL-Caltech
The NASA Ingenuity helicopter returns to the surface of Mars after its first flight on April 19, 2021, captured by a camera of the Perseverance rover.
A camera on NASA’s Perseverance rover shows the helicopter’s ingenuity flying over the surface of Mars on April 19, 2021.
NASA announced after the flight that the area of Mars’ Jezero crater, where the spacecraft flew, would be known as Wright Brothers Field.
Scientists and engineers at NASA’s Reaction Propulsion Laboratory in California are working on the ingenuity during its development, a multi-year process that was aided by some agency experts in rotor dynamics.
NASA / JPL-Caltech
The Perseverance rover, with the visible Ingenuity helicopter plugged in underneath, prepared for launch.
NASA / JPL-Caltech