On April 19, Nasa’s Ingenuity helicopter lifted off from the surface of Mars in a history-making first flight.

The small, drone-like rotorcraft, which arrived on the Red Planet attached to the Perseverance rover, climbed three metres into the thin air, hovering for 30 seconds before touching back down in the Jezero crater.

It was the first controlled flight by a powered aircraft on another planet.

Another groundbreaking first for science followed a day after.

A gold device about the size of a car battery on Perseverance, called Moxie, created oxygen out of that same thin atmosphere.

Previous missions have focused mainly on answering long-held questions about our mysterious celestial neighbour. Has it ever supported life? Can we find liquid water there?

But this new generation of experimental technology has begun to pave the way for the eventual human exploration - and even colonisation - of Mars.

On this week's Beyond the Headlines host Arthur Scott-Geddes looks at the latest wave of pioneering science missions on Mars, which are helping to usher in a new era in the exploration of the solar system.