Helicopters

Future space helicopters may benefit as NASA completes history's first interplanetary aircraft crash inquiry. The yet-to-be-released technical report explains why the space agency's Ingenuity Mars helicopter crashed on January 18, 2024.

NASA has declared the end of its Ingenuity Mars helicopter mission. Originally scheduled to last a month with five flights, it lasted for three years with 72 flights before being grounded by damaged rotors after its last flight.

On April 19, the one-year anniversary of its first flight, NASA's Ingenuity Mars helicopter visited and took images of the crash site of the protective aeroshell and parachute that helped deliver it and the Perseverance rover to the Red Planet.

NASA's Ingenuity helicopter made history again today by flying horizontally on Mars for the first time. The rotorcraft lifted off and flew for 51.9 seconds, reaching an altitude of 16 ft and flying laterally for 7 ft before descending safely.

The sheer density of the rainforests in Australia's far-north can create a complex task for local conservationists. Now researchers have developed two mini helicopters capable of hunting down dangerous weeds from the air, significantly reducing the resources needed to preserve local plant life.

The Puzzlebox Orbit brain-controlled helicopter will be available to buy next year, with software/app source code, protocols and hardware schematics freely available under an open-source license.