Skip to content

Mars: Nasa helicopter 'Ingenuity' flight a success

Nasa has confirmed that this small helicopter has made history by becoming the first to successfully fly on another planet.

Ingenuity took its test flight on Monday 19 April but it wasn't until later in the morning that data showed it had worked.

Ingenuity is a 1.8kg (4lb) helicopter that travelled to Mars inside Nasa's Perseverance rover, which landed in February 2021.

Flying on the Red Planet isn't straightforward - as BBC science reporter Laura Foster and Nasa systems engineer Farah Alibay explain.

Video by Laura Foster

19 April 2021

Nasa Perseverance Mars rover

Ingenuity Mars helicopter

Space exploration

Explore More

Astronaut Matthew Dominick squirting ketchup into his mouth on the International Space Station

Ketchup in space: 'You gotta squirt it out'

American astronauts Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams posing for a portrait inside the vestibule between the forward port on the International Space Station

How do you vote when you're stuck in space?

Image shows a white rocket launching from the launchpad, with white smoke visible at the bottom and an orange fire

Moment Nasa spacecraft blasts off to hunt alien life

Clouds and the eye of a hurricane captured from space

Watch: Vast size of Hurricane Milton seen from above

A view of the northern lights above the earth from space

Mesmerising auroras captured over Earth from space and on the ground

A rocket launches with fire and plumes coming from its base

Spacecraft launches to investigate asteroid threats to Earth

Crew on board the ISS

Joyful welcome by stranded astronauts for SpaceX capsule crew

Oleg Kononenko

Watch: Space crew returns to Earth after longest stay on ISS

Sarah Gillis emerges from a capsule into dark space

Watch: Key moments from first non-professional spacewalk

Science & Environment

Black and white picture of capsule being hanging below three parachutes

Starliner undocks from ISS and returns to Earth without crew

Cargo spacecraft with Earth in the background

Watch: Supplies get delivered to astronauts stranded in space

A woman, mimicking a weightlifter, pushes up a bar with two men on either end

Watch: Astronauts enjoy zero-gravity Olympics

Column of fire after rocket sets off from launch pad

Moment Ariane-6 rocket blasts into space on first flight

Science & Environment

Lunar probe in a field, next to Chinese flag and with helicopter in bacground

Moment China's lunar probe lands back on Earth

Astronaut Suni Williams arrives at International Space Station

Astronauts in Boeing capsule arrive at space station

Boeing Starliner takes off

Moment of lift-off for Boeing Starliner's first crewed mission

Black hole

This is what it's like inside a black hole

Science & Environment

Robot dog in Oregon

Robot dog trains to walk on Moon in Oregon trials

Inside the cockpit of the jet in flight

A look inside the Nasa jet chasing the solar eclipse

Starship

SpaceX launches its mammoth Starship rocket

Science & Environment

A man walks in front of an uprooted tree, the roots of which tower over him

Fallen trees cause widespread damage after bomb cyclone

Two people died in the storm that hit the West coast of the US and Canada overnight.

Science & Environment

A yellow alert for high winds gusting up to 60 mph (97km/h) covers the whole of Scotland

Weather forecast ahead of Storm Ashley

A yellow alert for high winds gusting up to 60 mph (97km/h) covers the whole of Scotland.

Science & Environment

The Hunter's supermoon is seen shining brightly between two buildings, as the moon shines through London's skyline on 17 OCtober

Stargazers around the world catch supermoon

The brightness of the moon would allow ancient communities to increase hunting at this time of year - hence the name.

Science & Environment

SpaceX's Super Heavy booster fires out of its exhaust at the bottom of the rocket itself while it lands into the rocket launcher holder that it fired out of, during SpaceX Starship's fifth flight test, in Boca Chica, Texas, U.S., October 13, 2024

Watch: Why is the latest SpaceX rocket test a big deal?

The BBC's Pallab Ghosh explores why this world first test is a big deal for space exploration.

Science & Environment

SpaceX Starship booster caught in mid air

Watch astonishing moment Starship booster caught in mid-air 'chopsticks manoeuvre'

It’s the first time the "chopsticks manoeuvre" has been attempted, with previous boosters landing in the ocean.

Science & Environment

Split screen showing weather presenter giving remote update and Hurricane Milton satellite image

Meteorologist becomes emotional giving Hurricane Milton update

The weather system has rapidly intensified into a category five storm with winds of up to 175mph (281km/h).

Science & Environment

Suni Williams and Barry 'Butch' Wilmore grin as they float aboard the International Space Station

'Space is my happy place,' says stranded astronaut

Suni Williams and Barry 'Butch' Wilmore gave an update from the ISS on their extended stay in space.

Science & Environment

Bow of Titanic missing section of railing

Video shows Titanic missing large section of railing

The discovery was made during a series of dives by underwater robots this summer.

Science & Environment

A video grab shows the northern lights (Aurora Borealis) flickering over the earth's surface with the moon setting in the background, and parts of the Internation Space Station (ISS) visible in the foreground. The Earth's curvature can be seen as it rotates

Watch: The Northern Lights seen from space

A timelapse captured from the International Space Station shows the Moon setting into streams of aurora.

Science & Environment

Pink and green Northern Lights hang in the sky above a car in a field

Timelapse shows Northern Lights glowing above Wisconsin

The footage reveals the light show that concurred with the Perseid meteor shower earlier this week.

Science & Environment

The Titan Arum plant took 12 years before it successfully flowered in the venue's Glasshouse in 2015.

Rare 'corpse flower' blooms in botanical gardens

The Titan Arum plant produces a stench that has been compared to decaying flesh or smelly socks.

Science & Environment

High winds and waves on coast

High winds and heavy rain as Caribbean hit by hurricane

Hurricane Beryl has made landfall with floods in Barbados, St Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada.

Science & Environment

Humpback whale's tail

Why scientists are using a crossbow to study whales

Researchers use the device to take remote biopsies from wild humpback whales to monitor their health.

Science & Environment

Female duck and chicks

Duckling family march to safety at Hardwick Hall

The annual duck march has been a tradition at Sedgefield’s Hardwick Hall Hotel for the past 24 years.

Science & Environment

Mountain lion in Los Angeles

Video captures new mountain lion spotted in Hollywood

While the giant cats are native to California, it is rare for them to make their way into the city of Los Angeles.

Science & Environment

Sea lion on row boat

Malnourished sea lion jumps into rowing boat

The animal stayed in the boat for over 15 minutes and was later taken to get medical care.

Science & Environment

Squid attacking camera

Rare footage shows deep-sea squid attacking camera

Watch video of the super-fast Dana squid getting a close-up 1km below the Pacific Ocean's surface.

Science & Environment

BBC Environment Correspondent Jonah Fisher asks Water Minister Robbie Moore

BBC asks if quality of water for bathing really is improving

BBC environment correspondent talks to water minister about bathing water quality

Science & Environment

BBC News Climate Editor Justin Rowlatt talks to a marine biologist about our warming oceans

'If I were a barnacle I'd be worried'

BBC News Climate Editor Justin Rowlatt talks to a marine biologist about our warming oceans

Science & Environment

Family of foxes

Family of foxes enjoy garden playtime

Aldridge gardener captures fox and five kits on camera shortly after mowing his lawn.

Science & Environment