NASA's helicopter on Mars performs first powered aircraft flight on another planet Ingenuity, still on the ground â but not for long! Image: NASA 2021-04-19 11:45:30 UTC History was made on Monday as NASA's helicopter on Mars, Ingenuity, performed the first ever flight of a powered aircraft on another planet. But at precisely 3:34 a.m. ET on Monday, NASA successfully conducted a flight from the Martian surface, the first time a controlled, powered aircraft has done so on another planet. The images made it back to Earth at 6:46 a.m. ET. NASA's official Mars account shared a stunning image of Ingenuity hovering above the Martian surface, and confirmed "more test flights are planned for the coming days."