NASA helicopter Ingenuity achieved the first powered, controlled flight on another planet at 12:31 a.m. Pacific this morning, CNET reports. “We’ve been talking for so long about our Wright brothers moment on Mars, and here it is,” said Ingenuity project manager MiMi Aung. “We can now say that humans have flown a rotorcraft on another planet.” The rotor blades spun up to 2,537 rpm, about six times faster than an Earth-based craft. The flight attempt was delayed from its original target of April 11 to give NASA time to update the machine’s software after a test of the rotors ended early.
