“Altimeter data confirms that Ingenuity has performed its first flight, the first flight of a powered aircraft on another planet,” the device’s chief pilot, Harvard Grip said, the AP reported. Grip had his feet firmly planted on Earth as he supervised the mini aircraft’s flight millions of miles away.
It took three hours after the flight to know whether the preprogrammed plan was successful. There had been a software glitch last week that scrubbed an earlier flight. The helicopter had a planned 40-second flight that included spin-up, takeoff, hover, descent and landing.
Successful flight In this image from NASA, NASA's experimental Mars helicopter Ingenuity hovers above the surface of Mars Monday, April 19, 2021. The little 4-pound helicopter rose from the dusty red surface into the thin Martian air Monday, achieving the first powered, controlled flight on another planet. (NASA via AP) (AP)
Ingenuity held a piece of flight history as it made its own entry into the books. A small piece of fabric from the wing of the Wright Flyer that made the first flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, was attached to the next phase in the history of flight, the AP reported. It had been taken to Mars attached on the rover Perseverance.
Up to five flights are planned for Ingenuity which could, if successful, open the door to a fleet of drones landing on the Martian surface to give scientists aerial views and even act as scouts for future astronauts.
Watch the flight below.
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Ingenuity flight In this image from NASA, NASA's experimental Mars helicopter Ingenuity hovers above the surface of Mars Monday, April 19, 2021. The little 4-pound helicopter rose from the dusty red surface into the thin Martian air Monday, achieving the first powered, controlled flight on another planet. (NASA via AP) (AP)
Ingenuity flight In this image from NASA, NASA's experimental Mars helicopter Ingenuity lands on the surface of Mars Monday, April 19, 2021. The little 4-pound helicopter rose from the dusty red surface into the thin Martian air Monday, achieving the first powered, controlled flight on another planet. (NASA via AP) (AP)
Ingenuity flight In this image from NASA, NASA's experimental Mars helicopter Ingenuity lands on the surface of Mars Monday, April 19, 2021. The little 4-pound helicopter rose from the dusty red surface into the thin Martian air Monday, achieving the first powered, controlled flight on another planet. (NASA via AP) (AP)
Ingenuity flight This March 21, 2021 photo made available by NASA shows the released debris shield, center, for the Ingenuity helicopter, dropped on the surface of Mars from the bottom of the Perseverance rover. On Tuesday, March 23, 2021, NASA announced that the helicopter's first Mars test flight will occur around April 8. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS via AP) (AP)
Ingenuity flight FILE - This Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2021 file photo shows a full-scale model of the Ingenuity helicopter displayed for the media at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. The 4-pound (1.8-kilogram) helicopter, named Ingenuity, will attempt to rise 10 feet (3 meters) into the extremely thin Martian air on its first hop. Five increasingly higher and longer flights are planned over the course of a month. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes) (Damian Dovarganes/AP)
Ingenuity flight FILE - This illustration made available by NASA depicts the Ingenuity helicopter on Mars which was attached to the bottom of the Perseverance rover, background left. It will be the first aircraft to attempt controlled flight on another planet. (NASA/JPL-Caltech via AP) (AP)
Ingenuity flight This Tuesday, April 6, 2021 image made available by NASA shows the Perseverance Mars rover, foreground, and the Ingenuity helicopter about 13 feet (3.9 meters) behind. This composite image was made by the WASTON camera on the rover's robotic arm on the 46th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS via AP) (AP)
Ingenuity flight In this Wednesday, April 29, 2020 still image from video, Vaneeza Rupani speaks from her home in Northport, Ala. Rupani, a high school, student had her entry chosen to name NASA's first Mars helicopter. Ingenuity, the name submitted by Rupani, was selected for the 4 pound (1.8 kilograms) solar-powered helicopter that is expected to be launched in Mars later this summer. (AP Photo/Cody Jackson) (Cody Jackson/AP)
