NASA's Ingenuity helicopter paid tribute to the first flight made on Earth with a small piece of fabric.

The helicopter is the first aircraft to be flown by humans on another planet, and it carries "a small swatch of muslin material" from the lower-left wing of the Wright Brothers Flyer under its solar panel.

The section from the historic aircraft was removed at the Wright Brothers National Museum in Ohio, Indy100 reports.

Watch Ingenuity's historic flight below:

[[youtubewidget||https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiWghbYDHSo]]

A webpage on NASA's Photojournal website read: "Procured by the Wrights from a local department store in downtown Dayton, Ohio, the cotton fabric (called 'Pride of the West Muslin') was at the time mostly used for ladies' undergarments.

"In the front parlor of their home, the Wrights cut the material into strips and used the family sewing machine to create wing coverings for their airplane Flyer 1, which achieved the first powered, controlled flight on Earth on Dec. 17, 1903."

"Some designs celebrate past missions, while others offer hope for future human achievements on Mars," NASA said in a statement.

Ingenuity on Mars. [[imagecaption|| Credit: Alamy / Science Photo Library]]

Ingenuity was in the air for less than a minute, but the flight represents a huge step forward for humankind as it was the first powered, controlled flight by an aircraft on another planet.

As per the BBC, a satellite on Mars confirmed that the flight had taken place through a satellite that sent data from the helicopter back to Earth.

During Ingenuity's time on Mars, the aircraft will be further tested with additional higher flights.

Ingenuity's first flight on Mars. [[imagecaption|| Credit: Alamy / NASA]]

MiMi Aung, the project manager for Ingenuity at Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, said: "We can now say that human beings have flown a rotorcraft on another planet.

"We've been talking for so long about our Wright Brothers moment on Mars, and here it is."

Wilbur and Orville Wright made history over a hundred years ago when they carried out the first successful powered, controlled aircraft flight on Earth in 1903.

Ingenuity on Mars. [[imagecaption|| Credit: Alamy / Geopix]]

As per the BBC, it was speculated that the flight would be difficult to pull off because of the weather conditions on the red planet.

"It feels absolutely nuts," Farah Alibay, a systems engineer at Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), said.

"We've been flying on Earth for just over 100 years, and now we're like, 'yeah, we're gonna go to another planet and fly'. It's crazy. But that's the beauty of exploration. That's the beauty of engineering."

The flight took place in an area of Mars known as the Jezero Crater, with a robot carrying the helicopter to Mars' surface when it entered its atmosphere back in February.

NASA's Ingenuity helicopter pays tribute to the history of flight with small piece of fabric