Organization: NASA
Country: U.S.
Website: nasa.gov
Year Founded: 1958
Number of Employees: 500+
Innovation Class: Technology
In January 2024, the Ingenuity helicopter, the first-ever aircraft to fly on another planet ended its nearly three-year journey. After completing a total of 72 flights, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration received images showing that one or more of its rotor blades had sustained damage during landing.
Ingenuity started its journey on Mars strapped to the belly of the Perseverance rover. Back in 2021, NASA said it hoped that the helicopter would perform at least five experimental test flights over 30 days.
During its almost 1,000 sols (Martian days or 24 hours, 39 minutes, 35 seconds), NASA continued to upgrade Ingenuity to handle new challenges on the red planet. For example, Ingenuity was upgraded with the ability to autonomously choose landing sites in treacherous terrain.
It also dealt with dead sensors, cleaned itself after dust storms, operated from 48 different airfields, and performed three emergency landings.
The helicopter was only designed to survive during spring. To keep it running through the coldest parts of winter, Ingenuity powered its heaters throughout the night. However, this caused the flight computer to periodically freeze and reset. These power “brownouts,” as NASA called them, pushed the team to redesign Ingenuity’s winter operations to keep it up and running.
In the end, the helicopter dozens of more flights than expected, flew for over 128 minutes, traveled 11 mi. (17.7 km), and reached an altitude of 79 ft. (24 m). Ingenuity’s impact will likely be felt in many future NASA missions. Already, the organization plans to send two more helicopters to aid in the Mars sample return campaign.
Explore the RBR50 Robotics Innovation Awards 2025.