Swatch of Wright Brothers 'Wright Flyer' to fly on Mars aboard Ingenuity helicopter

:cool2:


A small swatch of fabric is set to take flight on a first-of-its-kind aircraft more than a century, and a world away, from where it first made history.

The strip of muslin, which was once part of a wing on the Wright brothers' 1903 Flyer — the first successful heavier-than-air powered aircraft — is now on Mars, affixed to Ingenuity, the first aircraft to attempt powered flight on another planet.

"This fabric is from the original aircraft that flew at Kitty Hawk," said Bob Balaram, chief engineer for NASA's Ingenuity Mars helicopter. "With all our high tech materials and carbon fiber skins and exotic metals, we're very proud to honor that experimental aircraft from long ago by carrying a small piece of [its] fabric."

The Flyer fabric is wrapped around a cable located underneath the helicopter's solar panel, held in place by insulative tape.



http://www.collectspace.com/news/new...er-fabric.html

Very very cool.

Yes, that is very very cool.

I've seen the Wright Flyer hanging proudly in the Smithsonian. It's beautiful and is surrounded by many other beautiful flying machines.

Wifey and I watched her favorite movie, the original Wizard Of Oz, last night. As we watched, it reminded me of seeing Dorothy's ruby slippers in the Smithsonian. My boss and I were in D.C. to meet with Gen. Barry McCaffrey to get funding for a new Utah State Prison facility. But, he was so busy, the best we could get was doing a presentation for him while he had his shoes shined. That meeting lasted 5 minutes and we walked away with his promise to give us 6 million dollars.

Hunter