Ingenuity Mars Helicopter
Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Team celebrating two years of Mars flight at the JPL mall. I am pictured in the front row, third from left. Image: NASA / JPL-Caltech.Ingenuity Mars Helicopter
The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter was the first aircraft to achieve powered, controlled flight on another planet. Transported to Mars aboard NASA’s Perseverance Rover, Ingenuity was deployed onto the Martian surface shortly after landing, beginning its technology demonstration mission in April 2021. Its historic first flight on April 19th 2021 validated the feasibility of rotorcraft flight in Mars’s thin atmosphere. Following this initial success, Ingenuity transitioned from a limited technology demonstration into an operational role, providing aerial reconnaissance and terrain assessments to enhance Perseverance’s exploration capabilities. Over the course of its extended mission, Ingenuity far exceeded its original goal of five flights, ultimately completing an impressive total of 72 sorties—dramatically reshaping future possibilities for planetary aerial exploration.
Roles
Aug 2022-Feb 2024: Robotics Technologist @ NASA JPL
Jul 2023–Feb 2024: Advanced Planetary Helicopter Multi-Flight Autonomy:
- Developed planetary helicopter post-flight global localization methods, matching helicopter navcam imagery to satellite imagery to refine pose estimates, with the goal of enabling multi-flight autonomy operational campaigns.
Aug 2022–Jan 2024: Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Operations:
- Apr 2023–Jan 2024: Led uplink shifts as Primary Uplink Operator for many of Ingenuity’s historical 72 flights on the Martian surface until end-of-mission & developed software tooling to enhance operations workflow. Lead Ops
- Aug 2022–Apr 2023: Trained as Ingenuity Mars Helicopter operator, eventually supporting operational shifts for numerous activities on Mars, including flights. Fully certified: Apr 3rd 2023.
Awards
Videos
Legacy of NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter
Video: NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory YouTube Channel. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech.
NASA’s Mars Helicopter Team Says Goodbye
I make a brief appearance in the above video at about the 47s mark to say “Thank You Ingenuity”.
Video: NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory YouTube Channel. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech.
