Historical moment in the world of helicopters and space exploration
Historical flight of a coaxial helicopter

The NASA Ingenuity Mars helicopter took off on 19 April, 2021 at 12:33 local daytime (Mars time). It was the first time ever a human constructed machine - a small coaxial helicopter - was solo flying in the very light atmosphere of another planet.

It is a excellent achievement of the mankind and the space exploration, a huge technical success. Based on the altimeter of the helicopter: the Ingenuity raised up to the declared 3 metres (~10 feet) altitude, then hovered at this altitude for 30 seconds, whilst it turned right by 90 degrees before landing again on the surface of the Mars. The whole flight was 39.1 seconds long.

The new name of the airfield on the Mars is called Wright Brothers Field from now on in honour of the Wright brothers. 117 years after the first successful flight with a fixed wing airplane on the Earth by the Wright brothers, the NASA's Ingenuity helicopter could achieve the same performance in another world. The flight was recorded by the cameras of Perseverance Mars rover from 64.3 metres (211 feet) distance.