Mars Helicopter Ingenuity Flies!

But it would be a while before the folks monitoring Ingenuity's flight would know whether it had worked or not. It did. The solar-powered autonomous-flight aircraft ascended to an altitude of 10 feet, initiated what NASA called a "stable hover," and then landed back on the surface of the Red Planet 39.1 seconds later.

"Now, 117 years after the Wright brothers succeeded in making the first flight on our planet, NASA's Ingenuity helicopter has succeeded in performing this amazing feat on another world," NASA Associate Administrator for Science Thomas Zurbuchen said. "While these two iconic moments in aviation history may be separated by time and 173 million miles of space, they now will forever be linked."

Where Ingenuity flew now has a name. Zurbuchen said that the spot of Mars real estate would now be known as Wright Brothers Field.

The flight is a big deal, not just for the location or historic significance, though. The science was fascinating. Mars has only about one-third the gravity of Earth, but more importantly, its atmosphere is only about one percent as dense as Earth's. With so little air to work with, Ingenuity's two blades, which measure 4 feet across, had a real challenge developing lift. But NASA's calculations proved right on the money, and Ingenuity by all appearances flew perfectly. More data, NASA says, should be coming briefly.

Ingenuity was carried to Mars by the Perseverance Mars Rover launch. The little helo's mission isn't over yet, either. "Over the next three sols," NASA said, "the helicopter team will receive and analyze all data and imagery from the test and formulate a plan for the second experimental test flight, scheduled for no earlier than April 22."

And if that works, the Ingenuity team, NASA says, will start looking for ways to "best to expand the flight profile."