Which NASA mission carried the Ingenuity helicopter to Mars in 2021?

NASA’s Mars 2020 mission carried the Ingenuity helicopter to Mars in 2021.

Mars 2020 launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on July 30, 2020, and landed in Jezero Crater on February 18, 2021. Its main spacecraft delivered the Perseverance rover, which searches for signs of ancient microbial life and collects rock samples for possible future return to Earth.

Ingenuity was a technology demonstration attached beneath Perseverance during landing. On April 19, 2021, it completed the first powered, controlled flight on another planet. Although designed for only a short demonstration, it became an operational aerial scout for Perseverance.

Mars 2020 is the mission name, while Perseverance is the rover’s name and Ingenuity is the helicopter’s name. These names are sometimes incorrectly used interchangeably.