The Legacy of Ingenuity: The Frontier of Extraterrestrial Flight

On April 19, 2021, NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter made history when it completed the first powered, controlled flight on the Red Planet. It flew for the last time on January 18, 2024.

Designed to be a technology demonstration that would make no more than five test flights in 30 days, the helicopter eventually completed 72 flights in just under 3 years, soaring higher and faster than previously imagined. Ingenuity embarked on a new mission as an operations demonstration, serving as an aerial scout for scientists and rover planners, and for engineers ready to learn more about Perseverance’s landing gear debris.

In its final phase, the helicopter entered a new engineering demonstration phase where it executed experimental flight tests that further expanded the team’s knowledge of the vehicle’s aerodynamic limits.

For more information on Ingenuity, go to: mars.nasa.gov/ingenuity

TRANSCRIPT

Transcript:

[VOCA - Havard Grip] Ingenuity has performed its first flight of a powered aircraft on another planet.

[Teddy Tzanetos] Ingenuity is that Wright Brothers moment. We checked the box. Yes, we can fly on Mars. What comes next?

[music]

THE LEGACY OF INGENUITY

THE FRONTIER OF EXTRATERRESTRIAL FLIGHT

[Taryn Bailey] It all began with a question: can we fly on Mars?

[Havard Grip] People have had ideas about flying aircraft on Mars for quite some time.

[Taryn Bailey] But it’s never been done before.

[Bob Balaram] But the only way to find out is by actually trying it. If you don't try it, you're not going to find out.

[music]

[Teddy Tzanetos] On Mars, you have 1% the atmosphere to contend with compared to here on earth. You know that 1% density makes everything tougher.

[Bob Balaram] Then there are a lot of other challenges. We have the environment that gets very cold at night. It's far away, so needs a lot of autonomy. You upload commands and you wait to hear back the next day. There's no joysticking possible.

[Havard Grip] We had to do analysis first using our pen and paper. Look at the fundamentals, and then we build simulation models.

[Taryn Bailey] And all of that design work and testing that went into that eventually developed Ingenuity.

[Bob Balaram] This spacefaring aircraft, you know, is a first of a kind.

[Teddy Tzanetos] Ingenuity adds that aerial dimension towards exploration on Mars.

[VOCA] And liftoff, launching the next generation of robotic explorers to the red planet.

[music]

[Teddy Tzanetos] We had made it through launch, cruise, EDL, all of that. And we were ready now to begin our real mission, our real life on Mars. And we were all excited to see what ingenuity could really do. We were ready for flight one.

APRIL 19, 2021

[VOCA] Earlier today, ingenuity should have autonomously performed its first flight attempt on Mars.

[Taryn Bailey] We were all holding our breath.

[VOCA - Havard Grip] Ingenuity’s reporting: altimeter data confirms that Ingenuity has performed its first flight of a powered aircraft on another planet.

[Taryn Bailey] At that point, you just opened the floodgates of what is possible.

[Havard Grip] Yeah, it was surreal.

[Teddy Tzanetos] That was the crowning achievement of the team.

[Havard Grip] You know, we really had to hold hands and do it together.

[Teddy Tzanetos] From that moment forward, really, we were off to the races and saying, okay, great, that's done. Let's get back to work. Let's get to flight two and then three, and then so on and so on. How fast can we fly? How high up above the surface can we fly?

[Teddy Tzanetos] We started doing things in parallel with the rover. And we’ve also demonstrated that the helicopter can be a scout to help scientists.

INGENUITY WAS DESIGNED FOR UP TO 5 FLIGHTS OVER 30 DAYS

IT EVENTUALLY COMPLETED 72 FLIGHTS IN JUST UNDER 3 YEARS

INGENUITY FLEW FOR THE LAST TIME ON JANUARY 18, 2024

[Teddy Tzanetos] It's been a remarkable journey and I think a highlight of all of our lives to have been a part of it.

[Taryn Bailey] Of course, there's a little sadness that, oh, it's over. It's kind of the end of an era, but it's also the beginning of an era.

[Havard Grip] To realize, you know, what you're part of here, at least for me, I kind of get goose bumps.

[Teddy Tzanetos] We hope that ingenuity will inspire teams to build larger, more capable vehicles. From a science perspective, what is interesting now that we've unlocked that aerial dimension.

[Bob Balaram] The best way to predict the future is to create it.

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