NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Team has been named the recipient of the 2021 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.”
“While NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter team expanded the flight envelope by 100 million miles, we know we didn’t do it alone,” said Larry James, Interim Director of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. “That our Mars Helicopter name will now appear on this iconic trophy alongside so many of these air and space giants is an honor, and fuels us to continue exploring the skies over the Red Planet.”
On April 19, 2021, Ingenuity lifted off from the surface of Mars, climbed to the prescribed altitude of 10 feet, and maintained a stable hover for 30 seconds. It then descended, touching back down on the surface after logging a total of 39.1 seconds of flight, thereby becoming the first aircraft in history to make a powered-controlled flight on another planet.
Since its first flight, Ingenuity has accomplished all of its technology demonstration goals and successfully transitioned into service as a science scout for the Perseverance rover. The helicopter’s color camera has also been used to collect high-definition imagery to assist in identification and assessment of intriguing, and in some cases previously unknown, geologic features, according to officials.
To date, the mission’s official logbook has entries for 24 flights and a cumulative flight time of over 43 minutes.
Ingenuity is a solar powered, counter-rotating, propeller-driven planetary aircraft that stands 22 inches tall, weighs just 4 pounds, and meets the stringent requirements of both spacecraft and aircraft.
“The challenges of autonomously flying a helicopter in the atmosphere of Mars cannot be overstated,” expressed NAA Chairman, Jim Albaugh. “This accomplishment truly warrants and has earned this year’s Collier Trophy.”
Since 1911, the National Aeronautic Association’s Collier Trophy has been awarded annually for “… the greatest achievement in aeronautics or astronautics in America, with respect to improving the performance, efficiency, and safety of air or space vehicles, the value of which has been thoroughly demonstrated by actual use during the preceding year.” The list of Collier recipients represents a timeline of air and space achievements, marking major milestones in the history of flight. The 525-pound bronze trophy is on permanent display at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.