NASA’s Ingenuity succeeds in historic flight over Mars’ surface

NASA’s four-pound Ingenuity helicopter made history early Monday — becoming the first powered, controlled aircraft to fly on another planet.

Results rolled in shortly before 7 a.m., concluding that the experimental helicopter succeeded in its mission of rising 10 feet above the Martian surface, hovering in space for about 30 seconds and then rotating before gently landing on all four legs. “We can now say that human beings have flown a rotorcraft on another planet,” Ingenuity project manager MiMi Aung said as the team of NASA scientists who worked on the $85 million demo erupted into cheers and claps.