The tiny helicopter Nasa built to survive 30 days on Mars ended up flying for nearly three years

Nasa's Ingenuity helicopter/Image: Nasa Flying a helicopter on Earth is a remarkable engineering achievement. Flying one on Mars, where the atmosphere is less than 1% as dense as Earth's, was once considered nearly impossible. Yet on 19 April 2021, Nasa's Ingenuity helicopter achieved the first powered, controlled flight on another planet, proving that aerial exploration beyond Earth was possible. Originally designed as a technology demonstration expected to operate for just 30 Martian days (sols), Ingenuity far exceeded every expectation. It remained active for 1,004 sols, completed 72 flights, travelled more than 17 kilometres, and became an indispensable scout for the Perseverance rover before its historic mission came to an end in early 2024.Ingenuity became the first aircraft ever to fly on another planetIngenuity arrived on Mars attached to Nasa's Perseverance rover, which landed inside Jezero Crater on 18 February 2021 as part of the Mars 2020 mission.Weighing just 1.8 kilograms, the helicopter was designed to answer a single question: could powered flight work in the extremely thin Martian atmosphere?After Perseverance deployed the helicopter onto the surface, Ingenuity mad...