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 team received the award for achieving the first powered, controlled flight of an aircraft on another planet (Mars) on April 19, 2021.
This historic flight is recognized for opening the skies of Mars and other worlds for future scientific discovery and exploration, likened to the Wright brothers' first flight.
The Robert J. Collier Trophy is an annual award for the greatest achievements in American aeronautics or astronautics.

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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.”