By Tim Binnall
A small piece of fabric that was a part of the Wright brothers' first airplane may soon take part in another historic flight as it is attached to a helicopter that, if NASA's plan comes to fruition, will soon take to the skies over Mars. Dubbed 'Ingenuity,' the small aerial vehicle journeyed to the Red Planet as a part of the Perseverance rover mission and, should it successfully launch in a few weeks, will be the first controlled flight by a human craft on another planet. In honor of this potential milestone, NASA came up with a rather clever idea to mark the occasion.
Attached to the Ingenuity is a swatch of the cloth that once comprised the wings of the Wright brother's first airplane, known as Flyer 1. Back in 1903, the craft found its way into the history books when it took to the skies over Kitty Hawk, North Carolina in what was the first instance of controlled flight here on Earth. Upon obtaining the material from the Carillon Historical Park, where Flyer 1 resides today, the space agency said in a press release, an "insulative tape was used to wrap the small swatch of fabric around a cable located underneath the helicopter’s solar panel."
Ingenuity's impending flight is not the first time that NASA has connected aviation past and present as a different swatch of cloth from Flyer 1 as well as a piece of wood from the airplane were also included aboard the landmark Apollo 11 mission. The space agency aims to deploy the helicopter on Mars "no later than April 8" following a complex series of steps wherein "all activities are closely coordinated, irreversible, and dependent on each other." Assuming that everything comes to pass, Ingenuity will hover 10 feet over the surface of the Red Planet for approximately 30 seconds. While the short length of the flight may sound a bit unimpressive, it's important to remember that the Wright brothers' first success lasted a mere 12 seconds.