NASA has traced the lineage of its innovative Ingenuity Mars helicopter all the way back to the historic first flight Orville and Wilbur Wright undertook …
NASA has traced the lineage of its innovative Ingenuity Mars helicopter all the way back to the historic first flight Orville and Wilbur Wright undertook at Kitty Hawk in 1903. A tiny piece of fabric from the famous Wright aircraft is now in residence on the red planet, tucked under Ingenuity’s solar panel. In a NASA briefing on Tuesday, Ingenuity chief engineer Bob Balaram revealed the surprise package, which he described as being the size of a postage stamp. The unbleached muslin material, which comes from a wing covering, draws a connection between the first powered, controlled flight on Earth and what NASA hopes will be the first powered, controlled flight on another planet. Ingenuity could take off as soon as April 8, but first it has to be delivered to its Martian airfield location by the Perseverance rover.
