Mars Ingenuity flight scheduled for Monday, NASA says By (0) NASA announced Saturday that the first flight of Mars Ingenuity has been scheduled for Monday morning. Photo courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech April 17 (UPI) -- NASA announced Saturday that it is targeting Monday for the first flight of the Ingenuity Mars helicopter. A press release from the agency said the helicopter is now scheduled to launch at about 3:30 a.m. EDT Monday, and that data from the flight will return to Earth a few hours after the autonomous flight. Advertisement NASA's Mars rover, Perseverance, carried the tiny, four-pound helicopter under its chassis when it landed on the plant Feb. 18.