NASA helicopter takes first flight on Mars

By Steve Gorman
Updated April 20 2021 - 10:09am, first published 10:06am
An image from Mars shows the Ingenuity helicopter casting a shadow as it hovers above the surface.
An image from Mars shows the Ingenuity helicopter casting a shadow as it hovers above the surface.

NASA has scored a 21st-century Wright Brothers moment as it sent its miniature robot helicopter Ingenuity buzzing above the surface of Mars for nearly 40 seconds, marking the first powered controlled flight of an aircraft on another planet.

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