The success of the Ingenuity helicopter on Mars have been a source of pleasant surprise for NASA scientists, who say the robot is ready to perform more critical operations in the overall mission of finding signs of ancient life on Mars. NASA Mars helicopter Ingenuity became the first aircraft to perform a powered, controlled flight on another planet. The rotorcraft arrived on Mars attached to the belly of the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover. (Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech) (CN) — The Ingenuity helicopter has outperformed the expectations of NASA scientists. Now, the groundbreaking flying robot will transition to an operational role in the mission to find evidence of ancient life on the red planet.