The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that will be used to demonstrate the viability and potential of flying on Mars. The helicopter is being developed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California. The Ingenuity team is led by project manager MiMi Aung, with JPL director Michael Watkins serving as the technical lead. The 4-pound (1.8 kg) rotorcraft was delivered to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on February 18, 2020, aboard SpaceX’s CRS-20 cargo resupply mission for a launch to Mars on July 30, 2020.
The Ingenuity helicopter is based on technology that has been used for many years in terrestrial applications such as remote sensing and mapping. However, the Martian atmosphere is only 1% as dense as Earth’s at sea level, which requires significant changes to both the rotor design and the aircraft control system. The low atmospheric density also means that there is very little lift available for an aircraft attempting to fly on Mars. As a result, Ingenuity will be the first powered aircraft attempted to fly on another planet.
If successful, Ingenuity could pave the way for future missions that include aerial reconnaissance of Martian surface features or even transport of payloads and astronauts across short distances on the Martian surface. The technology could also have important implications for future human exploration of other worlds beyond our own solar system.