NASA LDSD Flight Test: Saucer Flies to Near Space

Ian Clark, principal investigator of the Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD), takes us through a play-by-play of NASA’s recent 'flying saucer' Test in Hawaii, using high-definition video shot from cameras on board the test vehicle.

The goal of this experimental flight test, the first of three planned for the project, was to determine if the balloon-launched, rocket-powered, saucer-shaped, design could reach the altitudes and airspeeds needed to test two new breakthrough technologies destined for future Mars missions.

Carried as payload during the shakeout flight were two cutting-edge technologies scheduled to be tested next year aboard this same type of test vehicle.

The Supersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator (SIAD) is a large, doughnut-shaped air brake that deployed during the flight, helping slow the vehicle from 3.8 to 2 times the speed of sound.

The second, the Supersonic Disksail Parachute, is the largest supersonic parachute ever flown. It has more than double the area of the parachute which was used for the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission that carried the Curiosity rover to the surface of Mars.

"A good test is one where there are no surprises but a great test is one where you are able to learn new things, and that is certainly what we have in this case." said Ian Clark, principal investigator for LDSD at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

"Our test vehicle performed as advertised. The SIAD and ballute, which extracted the parachute, also performed beyond expectations. We also got significant insight into the fundamental physics of parachute inflation. We are literally re-writing the books on high-speed parachute operations, and we are doing it a year ahead of schedule."

NASA test Mars LDSD 'flying saucer' vehicle on Earth

This image taken from video provided by NASA shows the launch of the high-altitude balloon carrying the LDSD, a saucer-shaped vehicle for NASA, to test technology that could be used to land on Mars, Saturday June 28, 2014 in Kauai, Hawaii. 

Saturday's experimental flight high in Earth's atmosphere is testing a giant parachute designed to deliver heavier spacecraft and eventually astronauts. (AP Photo/NASA)

LDSD, A saucer-shaped NASA vehicle testing new technology for Mars landings made a successful rocket ride over the Pacific, but its massive descent parachute only partially unfurled.

The Low Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD) was lifted by balloon 120,000 feet (36,575 meters) into the air from the Hawaiian island of Kauai.



The vehicle then rocketed even higher before deploying a novel inflatable braking system.

But cheers rapidly died Saturday as a gigantic chute designed to slow its fall to splashdown in the ocean emerged tangled.

Still, NASA officials said it's a pretty good test of technology that might one day be used to deliver heavy spacecraft, and eventually astronauts, to Mars. NASA planned a news conference on the flight Sunday.

After several weather delays, NASA will finally launched it's "flying saucer" (LDSD) into Earth's atmosphere Saturday to test technology that could be used to land on Mars.

The attempt off the coast of the Hawaiian island of Kauai tested the disc-shaped vehicle and a giant parachute.

Since the 1970s, NASA has used the same parachute design to slow landers and rovers as they streak through the thin Martian atmosphere.

With plans to send heavier spacecraft and eventually astronauts, the space agency needs a much stronger parachute.

NASA tested the technology high in Earth's atmosphere because conditions there are similar to that of Mars.

High winds at the Kauai military range forced NASA to miss its original two-week launch window in June.

NASA's Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD): Rocket-powered, Saucer-shaped test vehicle

Next week, NASA's Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD) project will fly a rocket-powered, saucer-shaped test vehicle into near-space from the U.S. Navy's Pacific Missile Range Facility in Kauai, Hawaii. 

This experimental flight test is designed to investigate breakthrough technologies to benefit future Mars missions, including those involving human exploration.

Three weeks of testing, simulations and rehearsals are planned before the first launch opportunity on the morning of June 3.

LDSD was built at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, and shipped to Kauai for final assembly and preparations.

"Our Supersonic Flight Dynamics Test Vehicle number 1 arrived at the Navy's Pacific Missile Range Facility on April 17," said Mark Adler, project manager of the Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD) project from JPL. "Since then, we have been preparing it for flight."

"One of the last big assemblies occurred on April 30, when we mated the vehicle with its Star-48 booster rocket."

During the June experimental flight test, a balloon will carry the test vehicle from the Hawaii Navy facility to an altitude of about 120,000 feet.

There, it will be dropped and its booster rocket will quickly kick in and carry it to 180,000 feet, accelerating to Mach 4.

Once in the very rarified air high above the Pacific, the saucer will begin a series of automated tests of two breakthrough technologies.

To get larger payloads to Mars, and to pave the way for future human explorers, cutting-edge technologies like LDSD are critical.

Mark Adler (L), LDSD Technology Demonstration Mission Manager chats with Jeffrey Sheehy (R), Senior Technical Officer of Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD).

Among other applications, this new space technology will enable delivery of the supplies and materials needed for long-duration missions to the Red Planet.

The upper layers of Earth’s stratosphere are the most similar environment available to match the properties of the thin atmosphere of Mars.

The Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD) mission developed this test method to ensure the best prospects for effective testing of the new and improved technologies here on Earth.

NASA LDSD: Saucer-shaped craft preps for flight test

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA's Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD) project, a rocket-powered, saucer-shaped test vehicle, has completed final assembly at the U.S. Navy's Pacific Missile Range Facility in Kauai, Hawaii.

This experimental flight test is designed to investigate breakthrough technologies that will benefit future Mars missions, including those involving human exploration.

Three weeks of testing, simulations and rehearsals are planned before the first launch opportunity on the morning of June 3.

LDSD was built at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, and shipped to Kauai for final assembly and preparations.

"Our Supersonic Flight Dynamics Test Vehicle number 1 arrived at the Navy's Pacific Missile Range Facility on April 17," said Mark Adler, project manager of the Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator project from JPL.

"Since then, we have been preparing it for flight. One of the last big assemblies occurred on April 30, when we mated the vehicle with its Star-48 booster rocket."

During the June experimental flight test, a balloon will carry the test vehicle from the Hawaii Navy facility to an altitude of about 120,000 feet.

There, it will be dropped and its booster rocket will quickly kick in and carry it to 180,000 feet, accelerating to Mach 4.

Once in the very rarified air high above the Pacific, the saucer will begin a series of automated tests of two breakthrough technologies.

In this picture, NASA's saucer-shaped experimental flight vehicle is prepared for a Range Compatibility Test at the US Navy's Pacific Missile Range Facility in Kaua'i, Hawaii. 

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

In order to get larger payloads to Mars, and to pave the way for future human explorers, cutting-edge technologies like LDSD are critical.

Among other applications, this new space technology will enable delivery of the supplies and materials needed for long-duration missions to the Red Planet.

The upper layers of Earth's stratosphere are the most similar environment available to match the properties of the thin atmosphere of Mars.

The Low Density Supersonic Decelerator mission developed this test method to ensure the best prospects for effective testing of the new and improved technologies here on Earth.

Anyone with Internet access will be able to watch live as video from the June test is relayed from the vehicle to the ground.

The low-resolution images from the saucer are expected to show the vehicle dropping away from its high-altitude balloon mothership and then rocketing up to the very edge of the stratosphere.


NASA's Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator team gathers around the "SIAD-R" -- a Supersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator they're developing to assist future planetary exploration missions -- during rocket-sled testing at China Lake, Calif. 

Credit: NASA/JPL

The test vehicle will then deploy an inflatable Kevlar tube around itself, called the Supersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator (SIAD).

After the SIAD inflates, the test vehicle will deploy a mammoth parachute called the Supersonic Disk Sail Parachute.

While people watching at home may be fascinated by how these two new technologies operate, the NASA flight team will actually be concentrating on a more fundamental question - "Will the test vehicle work as planned?"

"This first test is a true experimental flight test," said Ian Clark, the LDSD principal investigator from JPL.

"Our goal is to get this first-of-its-kind test vehicle to operate correctly at very high speeds and very high altitudes. "

Mars Missions: JPL Test New Supersonic Decelerator Technology - Video

Video of rocket-sled testing of the SIAD-R device, conducted in fall 2012 at China Lake, Calif. 

The SIAD-R is one of three supersonic deceleration devices now being prepared for flight testing by the Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator project at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. 

The devices, which slow the rate of descent for vehicles entering the atmosphere of another planet, could be used in Mars missions launching as early as 2018.

Validation tests are crucial to working out the kinks before a system of this type is used for future space missions.

A giant crane will tower above NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., shooting out of a hilly mesa like an oversized erector set, ready to help test components of NASA's Low Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD) project.

The goal of the challenging technology, led by JPL, is to enable a future mission to Mars or other planetary bodies that uses heavier spacecraft and lands them at locations that were previously not achievable.

The crane-test is scheduled for tomorrow, Dec. 18, weather permitting. The test will simulate the acceleration of a large parachute being pulled away from a spacecraft.

The purpose of the test is to show that all of the parachute lines and bridles come out in an organized manner and do not catch on other vehicle hardware as they are deployed.

NASA's Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator team gathers around the "SIAD-R" -- a Supersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator they're developing to assist future planetary exploration missions -- during rocket-sled testing at China Lake, Calif. 

Image Credit: NASA/JPL

Validation tests are crucial to working out the kinks before a system of this type is used for future space missions. During this test, the parachute, which has a diameter of roughly 100 feet (30.5 meters), will not open.

Its size is a significant upgrade by comparison to parachutes that have come before it. For instance, last year's successful landing of NASA's Mars Curiosity Rover utilized a parachute that measured only 51 feet (15.5 meters) across, about half the size.

The heavier planetary landers of the future require much larger drag devices than any now in use to slow them down -- and those next-generation drag devices will need to be deployed at higher supersonic speeds to safely land a vehicle, plus crew and cargo for potential human missions.

Artist impression of SIAD-R over Mars

Current Mars landing techniques date back to NASA's Viking mission, which put two landers on Mars in 1976.

That mission's basic parachute design has been in use ever since, with additional landing technologies, and was used again in 2012 to deliver the Curiosity rover to Mars.

To conduct more massive exploration missions in the future, however, NASA must advance the technology to a new level of sophistication.

Testing for the LDSD project began in 2012 at the U.S. Navy's China Lake Naval Air Weapons Station in California and will be conducted through 2015.

In the next few years, the Low Density Supersonic Decelerator Technology Demonstration Mission will conduct full-scale, stratospheric tests of these breakthrough technologies high above Earth to prove their value for future space exploration missions.