Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate 

Out for a Spin

Suggested Grades: 3-8

Activity Overview

Helicopters are amazing aircraft that can fly in ways 

airplanes cannot. Soon, NASA is going to be sending a 

helicopter named Ingenuity to Mars to become the first 

aircraft to fly on another planet! In this activity, you will 

learn how the size of the Ingenuity’s rotor blades are 

important for it to be able to fly in the lesser atmosphere 

of Mars.

Steps

1. Begin by cutting out the two helicopter templates as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Cut out the two helicopter templates.

2. Cut on the three solid lines as shown in Figure 2. You need to repeat this step for both 

the large and small helicopters. Do not cut along the dashed lines!

Figure 2. For each helicopter, cut on the three solid lines.

Time: 30 minutes

Materials

• 2 Small paperclips

• Scissors

• Paper helicopter templates (the 

last page of this document)
3. For each helicopter: Fold the flaps labelled X and Y on the dashed lines toward the back 

(see Figure 3). Run your finger down the fold to make sure it is a tight fold. 

Figure 3. Fold flaps X and Y toward the back of the helicopter.

Your helicopters should now look like Figure 4.

Figure 4. Once the flaps are folded, your helicopters should look like this.

4. For each helicopter: Fold flap Z toward the back as shown in Figure 5. Run your finger 

along the fold to make sure it is a tight fold.

Figure 5. Fold flap Z toward the back of the helicopter.
Your helicopters should now look like the ones shown in Figure 6.

 

Figure 6. After folding flap Z, each helicopter should look like this.

5. Put a paperclip on the bottom of each helicopter as shown in Figure 7.

Figure 7. Put a paperclip on the bottom of each helicopter.

6. For each helicopter: Fold Blade 1 down along the dashed line as shown in Figure 8.

Figure 8. Fold Blade 1 along the dashed line.
7. For each helicopter: Fold Blade 2 along the dashed line. It should be folded in the 

direction opposite of Blade 1 (see Figure 9). You should see that the words “Blade 1” 

and the words “Blade 2” face different directions after folding.

Figure 9. Fold Blade 2 in the opposite direction of Blade 1.

8. At this point, the building of both helicopters should be completed and they should look 

like the ones shown in Figure 10.

Figure 10. Both helicopters should now be completed.

9. To launch a helicopter, you need to hold it between your thumb and forefinger as shown 

in Figure 11.

Figure 11. Hold the helicopter on the edge with your thumb and forefinger.
10. Standing upright, hold a helicopter as shown in step 9. You should hold it with your arm 

extended away from your body and slightly upward. To launch it, let go and pull your 

hand back. The helicopter should spin as it falls to the ground.

11. The two helicopters you built have different sized blades. We want to experiment to see 

how the blade size affects the helicopter. To do this, hold one helicopter with each hand. 

Then, hold them at the same height as shown in Figure 12 and let them go at the same 

time. Observe how they each fall.

Figure 12. Hold a helicopter in each hand and let them go at the same time.

You should notice that the helicopter with the longer blades falls more slowly to the ground. As 

the helicopters fall, the air pushes up on the blades, slowing the helicopters down and causing 

them to spin. The helicopter with the longer blades has more air hitting it, so it falls more slowly 

than the helicopter with the shorter blades.
Background Information NASA’s helicopter, Ingenuity, is 

designed to fly in the Martian atmosphere. This atmosphere 

has less air than Earth’s atmosphere. As a result, Ingenuity 

needs very long rotor blades to create enough lift for it to 

fly.

The fuselage, which is the portion of Ingenuity that contains 

the batteries, cameras, and other sensors, is a small box

which is only about 8 inches on each side. The entire 

helicopter only weighs about 4 pounds! Despite its relatively 

small size, the rotor blades for Ingenuity are 4 feet long - and there are two of them. Without 

such long blades, the helicopter would be unable to fly in the Martian atmosphere.

Do you want to learn more about Ingenuity? Take a look at our site: 

https://mars.nasa.gov/technology/helicopter/. 

Figure 13. Ingenuity has long rotor 

blades because of the thin Martian 

atmosphere. Credit: NASA
Cut on solid lines and fold on dashed lines