NASA To Test Supersonic Saucer-Shaped Vehicle | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-10.20.25

AirborneUnlimited-
10.14.25

Airborne-Unlimited-10.15.25

Airborne-NextGen-10.16.25

AirborneUnlimited-10.17.25

Tue, May 20, 2014

NASA To Test Supersonic Saucer-Shaped Vehicle

Technology Developed For Future Mars Missions

NASA plans to test its Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD) experiment next month at the U.S. Navy's Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) on Kauai, Hawaii.

The LDSD test is designed to investigate breakthrough technologies that will benefit landing future human and robotic Mars missions, as well as aid in safely returning large payloads to Earth. The NASA LDSD test over the Pacific Ocean will simulate the entry, descent and landing speeds a spacecraft would be exposed to when flying through the Martian atmosphere. During the test a large saucer-shaped disk carrying an inflatable inner tube-shaped decelerator and parachute system will be carried to an altitude of 120,000 feet by a giant balloon. After release from the balloon, rockets will lift the disk to 180,000 feet while reaching supersonic speeds. Traveling at 3.5 times the speed of sound, the saucer's decelerator will inflate, slowing the vehicle down, and then a parachute will deploy to carry it to the ocean's surface.

NASA has six potential dates for launch of the high altitude balloon carrying the LDSD experiment: June 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 and 13. The launch window for each date extends from 0700 to 0830 local time.

NASA's LDSD carries several onboard cameras. It is expected that video of selected portions of the test, including the rocket-powered ascent, will be downlinked and streamed live to several NASA websites.

NASA's LDSD program is part of the agency's Space Technology Mission Directorate, which is innovating, developing, testing and flying hardware for use in NASA's future missions.

(Image provided by NASA)

FMI: www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/tdm/ldsd/#.U3YROfldWmB

Advertisement

More News

Aero-News: Quote of the Day (10.23.25)

“Sport Pilot 2.0 gives more people than ever the opening to pursue their dreams of putting themselves in the pilot seat and enjoying the unique perspectives of flight. This v>[...]

United Airliner Likely Hit Weather Balloon, Not Space Object

WindBorne’s CEO Cooperating In Investigation Of Mysterious Incident After a mysterious collision with what was thought to be either an asteroid or space debris, it’s lo>[...]

Atlanta Cops Block Attempted Shooting at Hartsfield-Jackson

Man Arrested After Attempting to Bring an Assault Rifle Into the World’s Busiest Airport A 49-year-old man was arrested by Atlanta police officers for allegedly planning a ma>[...]

Aviation Tracking Technology Bill Flies Through the Senate

Senate Commerce Committee Passes Cruz’s ROTOR Act The Rotorcraft Operations Transparency and Oversight Reform (ROTOR) Act, introduced by Chairman Ted Cruz and Ranking Member >[...]

ALPA Praises Bipartisan Bill To Mitigate Helicopter Risks

ROTOR Act Closes Loopholes And Mandate Safety Technology The Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l, issued a statement lauding a bipartisan bill introduced by Senators Ted Cruz >[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2025 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC