Nasa prepares to test radical 'flying saucer': Giant inflatable heat shield could help people land
Channel: Aliens insider
Date: 28/06/2015

Nasa prepares to test radical 'flying saucer': Giant inflatable heat shield could help people land on Mars in 2035



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Nasa wants to land the first humans on Mars in 2035, and to do that, it needs the world's toughest parachute.

Its latest plan is to use a large inflatable 'flying saucer' that will slow a spacecraft down after piercing through the thin Martian atmosphere.

Dubbed the density supersonic decelerator (LDSD), the space agency plans to conduct an ambitious test flight of its design on Wednesday at 1:30pm (5:30pm GMT).

The LDSD test vehicle will be carried aloft by a large weather balloon at at the U.S. Navy Pacific Missile Range Facility in Kauai, Hawaii. 

For more than two hours, the balloon will carry the test vehicle to an altitude of 120,000ft (37,000 metres), at which point the flying saucer will be released.

A booster rocket will then take the flying saucer at Mach 4 - which is four times the speed of sound - to a height of 180,000ft (54,860 metres).

An airbag will inflate around the saucer for its descent to Earth to help  slow down by adding more area and drag. A supersonic parachute will also deploy. 

The saucer is due to land in the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii about 2 hours and 15 minutes after launch.