A Helicopter Is Attempting The First Powered Flight On Mars

A helicopter named Ingenuity will begin on a journey to Mars. Ingenuity's team is attempting to complete the first powered flight on another planet. The atmosphere of Mars is very harsh and thin. Accomplishing this mission would allow scientists to challenge similar environments in space. 

Once on Mars, Ingenuity will be released from a space rover. From there, NASA's goal is to fly Ingenuity up to 90 seconds, covering about 10 to 15 feet. It also needs minimal human control to take off, fly, and land. 

"To have a helicopter that can fly and survive in the thin atmosphere autonomously on the surface of Mars, and be operable from Earth, that took ingenuity, hard work, and teamwork." says project manager MiMi Aung. 

NASA will attempt to push the experiments further by increasing the distance and raising the altitude. This flight will move progress forward in discovering more about the universe.

Source: Link ​