NASA Releases AWESOME Footage Of Flying Saucer Near-Space Test Flight [VIDEO]

[Buster's Uncle]

NASA Releases AWESOME Footage Of Its Flying Saucer Near-Space Test Flight [VIDEO]
The Daily Caller
30 minutes ago






NASA on Friday released a video of its new “Flying Saucer” landing system’s recent near-space test flight, which demonstrates in amazing detail how the combination of systems will land the next generation Mars rover on the red planet.

Ian Clark of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory narrates the the Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD)’s steps, which successfully launched what the space agency has dubbed the “Flying Saucer” high into the stratosphere and carried it gently back down in June.


WATCH:

LDSD: Supersonic Test Flight (HD)

One of the primary goals of the Flying Saucer is to use atmospheric drag to slow entry and save rocket fuel and engines for last-minute maneuvers and landing, according to the agency’s website.

“The heavier planetary landers of tomorrow, however, will 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 vehicle, crew and cargo.”


http://news.yahoo.com/nasa-releases-awesome-footage-flying-saucer-near-space-203208207.html

[Buster's Uncle]

NASA Mars test called success despite torn chute
Associated Press
1 hour ago



LOS ANGELES (AP) — NASA engineers insist a test of a vehicle they hope to one day use above Mars achieved most of its objectives despite a parachute that virtually disintegrated the moment it deployed.

At a Friday news conference, the engineers laid out what they'd learned in six weeks since the $150 million high-altitude test of a vehicle designed to bring spacecraft and eventually astronauts safely down to Mars.

Engineers said they achieved the main objective of their initial test — getting a flying saucer-shaped craft to 190,000 feet above the earth at more than four times the speed of sound.

Principal investigator Ian Clark said the tearing and tangling of the parachute that then opened shows that we have "more to learn."


http://news.yahoo.com/nasa-mars-test-called-success-despite-torn-chute-192024495.html