MOUNT VERNON, Wash. — News of the successful maiden flight of the NASA helicopter on Mars was cause for celebration for two Ilwaco High School graduates.

NASA project manager MiMi Aung called it a “Wright brothers moment.”

Goodwinds Composites, a company owned by sister and brother Amelia Cook and Leland Holeman, fabricated the lightweight legs of the aircraft.

Their joy in playing a role in such a historic achievement was palpable Monday.

“It was pretty cool to see,” said Holeman. “Just having some kinds of our materials on another world.”

Cook echoed her brother’s enthusiasm. “I got up this morning at 5:30 and clicked on it,” she said. “That picture of the shadow was so cool. I got shivers. You can see our tubes clearly.”

The 19-inch tall helicopter Ingenuity was delivered to Mars by the Perseverance rover. It is equipped with miniature computers and cameras, weighs 4 pounds and has a rotor span of about 4 feet.

The drama on the red planet unfolded in the early hours and was streamed by NASA on YouTube. Project engineers in orange uniform T-shirts watched on computer screens as they processed scientific information.

Chief pilot Håvard Grip was first to note that altimeter data showed the flight had taken place, the Associated Press reported.

The first confirming image was a black-and-white still photo of the helicopter’s shadow on the surface. Next came a yellowy video taken from the Mars rover 211 feet away showing the tiny device taking off, rising 10 feet and coming down. The success prompted engineers to applaud and pump their fists in the air.

The flight, in Mars’ lower gravity and thinner atmosphere, lasted 39 seconds — more than three times the duration of the Wright brothers’ first powered flight in 1903.

Carbon specialists

Cook and Holeman are the children of Jane and Roger Holeman. Cook graduated as valedictorian from Ilwaco High School in 1999 and Leland Holeman graduated in 2002. They took over Goodwinds Composites, a company previously allied with a Seattle kite store, in 2008.

The company, now based in Mount Vernon, manufactures custom carbon and fiberglass rods for multiple commercial uses, including textiles machinery, drones, electric guitars and pool cues.

During the coronavirus shutdown, Cook, who is president of the Rotary Cub in Mount Vernon, has been giving Zoom talks to inspire school students. “I try to remind the kids in middle school and elementary that you can do amazing things in a small business and a small town and you can change the world and maybe even on another planet!” she said.

Cook and Holeman’s involvement in the Mars project began a couple of years ago, but had to remain secret until recently. Agents from NASA’s partner, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology, ordered test materials from Goodwinds before revealing their identity and mission.

The criteria for building the helicopter’s legs went beyond the materials having to be strong and impact resistant. They had to be lightweight, able to survive the flight and then function in Mars’ thinner atmosphere. Materials had to be able to withstand ultraviolet radiation and temperature extremes.

For Holeman, the lofty success is a reminder of where he came from. “We wouldn’t be here doing this without the education we received at Ilwaco schools,” he said.

The NASA spacecraft, carrying a swatch of fabric from the Wright brothers’ plane, took off from Cape Canaveral last July with the tiny helicopter clamped to the belly of the rover. It landed on schedule Feb. 18, prompting a Martian-themed party at the Mount Vernon business.

The helicopter was named by a high school girl from Alabama who won a NASA essay contest. While the land vehicle is designed to collect rocks and study terrain, the aircraft is designed to test remote flight capabilities while providing aerial images.

After enjoying a workplace cupcake party for their eight employees when the spaceship landed, Cook and Holeman had to wait for Monday’s celebration with milkshakes. Twice NASA delayed the first flight because of technical worries and needed to reboot the craft’s onboard computers.

Historic moment

The rover-helicopter project has been planned for six years. The New York Times has reported that the cost is $2.7 billion. Four or five more helicopter flights are planned, incrementally farther and higher, before attention returns to the rover’s mission.

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory has managed four Mars robot rovers dating to 1997. NASA has lost contact with all except Curiosity, sent in 2012.

Bicycle makers Wilbur and Orville Wright made the first controlled flight of a powered aircraft Dec. 17, 1903. It lasted 12 seconds. The Wright Flyer is on display at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., alongside space rockets and capsules.

Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA’s associate administrator for science, announced Monday that the location of the helicopter’s first flight would be named Wright Brothers Field.

“We have been thinking for so long about having our ‘Wright brothers moment’ on Mars, and here it is,” said Aung, the project manager, ripping up a printout of the backup plan prepared in case there were problems.

“We will take a moment to celebrate our success and then take a cue from Orville and Wilbur regarding what to do next. History shows they got back to work — to learn as much as they could about their new aircraft — and so will we.”