Congrats NASA!!! The Wright Bros Would Be Proud!

Ingenuity, the little Mars Helicopter, took its first test flight, a “simple” up, hover, and down-to-land maneuver, marking an incredible historic event.

MiMi Aung, #MarsHelicopter Project Manager, following the delayed images and video being sent to earth enthusiastically said, "We've been talking for so long about our Wright brothers moment. And here it is.”

The shadow of Ingenuity is cast on the Mars surface below it’s first test flight.

“The solar-powered helicopter first became airborne at 3:34 a.m. EDT (12:34 a.m. PDT) – 12:33 Local Mean Solar Time (Mars time) – a time the Ingenuity team determined would have optimal energy and flight conditions. Altimeter data indicate Ingenuity climbed to its prescribed maximum altitude of 10 feet (3 meters) and maintained a stable hover for 30 seconds. It then descended, touching back down on the surface of Mars after logging a total of 39.1 seconds of flight.”

“NASA Associate Administrator for Science Thomas Zurbuchen [note a previous blog entry] announced the name for the Martian airfield on which the flight took place.

“‘Now, 117 years after the Wright brothers succeeded in making the first flight on our planet, NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter has succeeded in performing this amazing feat on another world,” Zurbuchen said. “While these two iconic moments in aviation history may be separated by time and 173 million miles of space, they now will forever be linked. As an homage to the two innovative bicycle makers from Dayton, this first of many airfields on other worlds will now be known as Wright Brothers Field, in recognition of the ingenuity and innovation that continue to propel exploration’” (NASA release).

What an incredible feat.