A piece of fabric from the Wright brothers’ 1903 Kitty Hawk Flyer is making history, stowed aboard the Ingenuity, NASA’s small helicopter on Mars.
The piece of fabric was provided by Carillon Historical Park in Dayton, Ohio, home to the Wright Brothers National Museum and the world’s largest repository of three-dimensional Wright Family artifacts.
In 2019, NASA contacted Dayton officials to explore a way the Wright brothers could be a part of the first flight on another planet. They needed something that would not add much weight to the helicopter, which needed to weigh less than four pounds. The fabric was the best choice, according to officials with Carillon Historical Park and the Wright family.
“Carillon Historical Park is delighted to play a small part in this momentous occasion,” said Brady Kress, president. “Our mission includes inspiring the world. We hope this partnership with NASA helps do just that – inspiring our world by reaching beyond it.”
In 1903, Wilbur and Orville made the first controlled, sustained flight on Earth of a powered, heavier-than-air, piloted machine. Soon, Ingenuity will be the first heavier-than-air aircraft to make the first powered, controlled, and sustained flight on another world.
NASA is targeting no earlier than April 8, 2021, for the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter to make the first attempt at powered, controlled flight of an aircraft on another planet.
Amanda Wright Lane and Stephen Wright, Wilbur and Orville’s great grand-niece and nephew, spoke for the Wright brothers: “Wilbur and Orville Wright would be pleased to know that a little piece of their 1903 Wright Flyer I, the machine that launched the Space Age by flying barely one quarter of a mile, is going to soar into history again on Mars! The NASA Mars Perseverance Team has found a way to coax another 330 million miles out of the original Pride of the West fabric that Wilbur and Orville thought they retired from their Flyer’s broken wings on Dec. 17, 1903.”
“We offer our sincere thanks to everyone at NASA for acknowledging and honoring the Wright brothers pioneering flight 118 years ago,” the statement continued. “Perseverance and ingenuity are traits often associated with the Wright’s ultimate success. Now, two brilliant machines appropriately named Perseverance and Ingenuity promise to be the keys for the success of this Mars mission. The Perseverance Mission Team has pushed the boundary of the Wright’s achievement propelling humanity toward a future two self-taught engineers from Dayton, Ohio, could scarcely imagine. This is truly a milestone for science and engineering that the Wright Brothers would be proud to be a part of. Well done to all!”
In 1969, the Wright family gave Neil Armstrong a piece of the 1903 flyer fabric to take with him to the Moon. In 1998, Carillon Park and the family gave John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth, a piece of the fabric to take with him on his flight in the Space Shuttle.
Carillon Historical Park is part of Dayton History, a private non-profit organization established to preserve, share, and celebrate Dayton’s history. The park’s 65-acre campus is home to more than 30 historic structures and cares for more than 3 million artifacts. In addition to Carillon Historical Park, the following sites rest under Dayton History’s care: Carillon Brewing Co., Hawthorn Hill (the Wright family home), the Paul Laurence Dunbar House Historic Site, Patterson Homestead, the Old Court House, the Mound Cold War Discovery Center, Memorial Hall, and the Archive Center.
Very interesting article. The many ‘flight” museums in Dayton are great to visit.
I also like McCullough’s book on the Wright Bros.
I enjoyed this article. Thank you to who wrote it!
David McCullough wrote a book on the Wright Brothers.
It was good and I enjoyed that as well.