NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory/YouTube
Test of the flying-saucer-like Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD).
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory has released a video of its test of a new inflatable braking system designed to land heavy payloads on Mars.
The Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator was carried aloft by a balloon and then rocketed to an altitude of 190,000 feet above Hawaii. As Discovery News explains: “The thin air and low pressure at that altitude is as close as engineers can come to simulating flight in Mars’ atmosphere.â€
Everything went well right up to the deployment of the parachute, which was ripped to shreds.
As The Los Angeles Times says: “the 100-foot wide parachute did not behave as the engineers had hoped. It began to fray and tear as soon as it unfurled behind the 7,000-pound vehicle plummeting to Earth.â€
Even so, engineers say the test was a success.