Nasa flies Ingenuity helicopter on Mars in ‘Wright brothers moment’ which could revolutionise space exploration – The Telegraph

"A whole new way to explore the alien terrain in our solar system is now at our disposal," said Nottingham Trent University astronomer Daniel Brown.

This first test flight - with more to come by Ingenuity - holds great promise.

Up to five increasingly ambitious flights are planned, and they could lead the way to a fleet of Martian drones in decades to come, providing aerial views, transporting packages and serving as lookouts for human crews. On Earth, the technology could enable helicopters to reach new heights, doing things like more easily navigating the Himalayas.

Ingenuity's team has until the beginning of May to complete the test flights so that the rover can get on with its main mission: collecting rock samples that could hold evidence of past Martian life, for return to Earth a decade from now.

The team plans to test the helicopter's limits, possibly even wrecking the craft, leaving it to rest in place forever, having sent its data back home.

Nasa is planning a second flight for the helicopter on Thursday. The helicopter is fitted with two microphones and the plan is to record sound on one of the later flights.

Dr Bob Balaram, Ingenuity's chief engineer, said that this could open the door for similar flightattempts in the future on Venus and Titan, the largest moon of Saturn.

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Nasa flies Ingenuity helicopter on Mars in 'Wright brothers moment' which could revolutionise space exploration - The Telegraph