Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Space
Space
Science
Leonard David

How NASA's Ingenuity helicopter opened the Mars skies to exploration

Closeup of a small helicopter on a rocky, red-dirt landscape.

NASA's Ingenuity Mars helicopter notched many milestones during its 72 Red Planet flights.

As a technology demonstrator, Ingenuity was tasked with making up to five flights over the course of 30 Earth days. But from its celebrated April 19, 2021 first voyage to its last airborne journey on Jan. 18, 2024, Ingenuity continued to push its self-made envelope in altitude attained, distance flown and speed reached over those nearly three years.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.