Mars aircraft

[7] Previously, the experimental aircraft, NASA Mini-Sniffer, was considered for possible missions to fly in and study Mars' atmosphere, but that idea was abandoned.

Aircraft may provide on site measurements of the atmosphere of Mars, as well as additional observations over extended areas.

[1] The Mini-Sniffer could run without oxygen by using hydrazine, and the design was considered for sampling the atmosphere of Mars.

[16] On April 19, 2021, the NASA helicopter Ingenuity became the first powered and controlled Mars aircraft to take flight.

[8] At one point, NASA was developing plans for a wok-sized airplane "micromission", which would piggyback on a separate Mars bound payload.

[31] Some work has been done to develop extremely thin, flexible solar cells that could allow a balloon's skin itself to generate power from the Sun.

[35] A number of advantages of a viable rotorcraft design were noted, including the ability to pass over difficult Mars terrain yet still visit multiple sites in situ.

[37] NASA announced the end of mission for Ingenuity as engineers found that the helicopter sustained damage after a communications blackout with Perseverance mid-flight.

The helicopter flew 72 times in a period spanning three years; final system tests and data gathering are expected to continue for several months.

[6] India's ISRO, as a part of its Mangalyaan project aims to send a rotorcraft named MARBLE or Martian Boundary Layer Explorer.