118 years after the first twelve seconds
Ingenuity Mars Helicopter
Powered flight on another world
The story
The air on Mars is about one percent as dense as on Earth, so Ingenuity's two 1.2 m rotors spin at around 2,500 rpm to lift 1.8 kg. It was meant to make five flights and made 72. Under its solar panel it carried a piece of fabric from the 1903 Wright Flyer, about the size of a postage stamp.
It rode to Mars folded under the belly of the Perseverance rover, which landed in in February 2021 and set it down on the surface six weeks later. Radio signals take several minutes each way between Earth and Mars, so no one could fly it by hand: its own computer, a smartphone processor, flew every flight, tracking the ground with a camera that looked straight down.
After its five test flights it became a scout for the rover, flying ahead to photograph the route. On its 72nd flight, in January 2024, a rotor blade was damaged on landing and the mission ended. In all it flew about 17 km and spent more than two hours in the air of another planet.
How it works
Loading the 3D model…
Specifications
- Top speed
- 36 km/h
- Wingspan
- 1.2 m
- Max weight
- 2 kg
- Ceiling
- 24 m
- Range
- 17 km
- In 12 seconds
- 120 m
- Power
- Solar-charged batteries, about 350 W in flight
Where it flew
Jezero Crater, Mars
Fly it yourself
Take the Ingenuity up in 3D, with its real weight, wing area and power.
Lift off in air 1% as thick as Earth's and hover at 10 m.
