NASA has made another step towards the journey to Mars. The space agency has reportedly concluded its first test flight of a prototype drone that will one day be sent to the Red Planet for exploration. The Prandtl-M (Preliminary Research Aerodynamic Design to Land on Mars) is a remotely-piloted craft made out of carbon fibre and fibreglass. It can travel up to approximately 21mph and is designed to enter the Martian atmosphere and glide over the rocky surface before coming down to land. During the flight, it will collect highly detailed imagery of the planet’s surface that could give scientists more clues about its origins. “The first successful flights felt like a huge relief,” said John Bodylski, a mechanical engineering student at Irvine Valley College in California. “While we still plan to perfect the design, it is a pretty exciting feeling to realise that the aircraft is working. At first I didn’t believe it and had to re-watch the footage from the flight.” The craft is still years away from being flown to Mars, and the team of students have plenty more refinements to make. But it’s hoped the little drone will make it easier for astronauts to visit Mars for the first time. NASA has predicted it will be able to send humans to Mars in the 2030s whilst SpaceX hopes to send its own unmanned craft there in 2018.