Scientific American
Ingenuity’s ‘Wright Stuff’: A Piece of the Wright Flyer Will Soar on Mars
The first powered atmospheric flight on another planet will honor its roots with a payload drawn from the dawn of aviation itself
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In this illustration, NASA’s Mars helicopter Ingenuity stands on the Red Planet’s surface as the agency’s Perseverance rover (
partially visible at left) rolls away. Credit: NASA and JPL-Caltech
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When NASA’s latest Mars-roving robot, Perseverance, landed on the Red Planet in February, its cargo included a long virtual list of “firsts.” Perseverance was the first ever spacecraft to perform an entirely autonomous ultraprecise landing on another planet. In coming months it will also be the first to attempt to produce pure oxygen from the world’s thin carbon-dioxide atmosphere via its experimental MOXIE instrument. And before the conclusion of Perseverance’s mission, it will be the first to gather Martian samples for eventual return to Earth, potentially also making it the first mission to uncover signs of life beyond Earth. But the rover’s most spectacular first may occur next week, when it is expected to deploy a small, four-pound parcel from its underbelly.