
Ingenuity Helicopter
Ingenuity, nicknamed Ginny, is a small robotic helicopter operating on Mars as part of NASA's Mars 2020 mission along with the Perseverance rover, which landed with Ingenuity attached to its underside on February 18, 2021. The helicopter was deployed to the surface on April 3, 2021, and on April 19 successfully made the first powered controlled extraterrestrial flight by an aircraft, taking off vertically, hovering and landing for a flight duration of 39.1 seconds. As of its 38th flight, on 5 January 2023, the helicopter had remained flightworthy for 626 days after its first flight. The 25th flight, which occurred on April 8, 2022, set new records for highest speed and distance traveled. Ingenuity was designed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in collaboration with AeroVironment, Inc., NASA's Ames Research Center and Langley Research Center. Other prominent contributors were Lockheed Martin Space and SolAero. Its rotors measure 4 ft, and its entire body is 49 cm tall.