NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory Wins Collier Trophy for Mars Helicopter

Team’s Ingenuity aircraft completed world’s first powered-controlled flight on another planet.

FLYING Staff

Tuesday, April 05, 2022 at 05:04 PM ET

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In April, Ingenuity hovered above Mars for 30 seconds. [Courtesy: National Aeronautic Association]

Key Takeaways:

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Team has been awarded the prestigious Robert J. Collier Trophy.
The award recognizes the team's historic achievement of the first powered, controlled flight of an aircraft on another planet (Mars) on April 19, 2021.
This pioneering accomplishment is celebrated for opening new skies for future scientific discovery and exploration on other worlds.

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NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Team has been awarded the Robert J. Collier Trophy for “… the first powered, controlled flight of an aircraft on another planet, thereby opening the skies of Mars and other worlds for future scientific discovery and exploration.”

The team will receive the Robert J. Collier Trophy on June 9 in Washington, D.C. [Courtesy: National Aeronautic Association]

The Ingenuity helicopter made history on April 19, 2021, when it deployed from the rover Perseverance and hovered above Mars surface for 30 seconds, “becoming the first aircraft in history to make a powered-controlled flight on another planet.”