Tag Archives: landing systems

Developing a flight strategy to land heavier vehicles on Mars

Posted on February 12, 2019 by rburnham

The heaviest vehicle to successfully land on Mars is the Curiosity Rover at 1 metric ton, about 2,200 pounds. Sending more ambitious robotic missions to the surface of Mars, and eventually humans, will require landed payload masses in the 5- … Continue reading →

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Mars 2020: Supersonic parachute deployment test

Posted on November 14, 2017 by rburnham

Landing on Mars is difficult and not always successful. Well-designed advance testing helps. An ambitious NASA Mars rover mission set to launch in 2020 will rely on a special parachute to slow the spacecraft down as it enters the Martian … Continue reading →

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Second Mars EDL ‘flying-saucer’ test a success

Posted on June 9, 2015 by rburnham

Engineers are poring over the data following the second experimental landing technology test of NASA’s Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD) project. The saucer-shaped LDSD craft splashed down at 11:49 a.m. HST (5:49 p.m. EDT) Monday in the Pacific Ocean off the … Continue reading →

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JPL readying June test of Mars EDL ‘flying-saucer’

Posted on March 27, 2015 by rburnham

NASA’s Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD) project will be flying a rocket-powered, saucer-shaped test vehicle into near-space from the Navy’s Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai, Hawaii, in June. The public is invited to tune in to an hour-long live, interactive … Continue reading →

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Riding shotgun on Mars ‘flying-saucer’ EDL test

Posted on August 8, 2014 by rburnham

NASA’s Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD) project successfully flew a rocket-powered, saucer-shaped test vehicle into near-space in late June from the U.S. Navy’s Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai, Hawaii. The goal of this experimental flight test, the first of three … Continue reading →

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Mars ‘flying-saucer’ EDL test successful

Posted on July 1, 2014 by rburnham

NASA has successfully conducted near Hawaii the first of three tests for the Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD), developed to evaluate new landing technologies for future Mars missions. This initial test was to determine the flying ability of the saucer-shaped vehicle. … Continue reading →

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Mars ‘flying-saucer’ entry, descent, landing test

Posted on April 22, 2014 by rburnham

In June, while beachgoers in Hawaii sit blissfully unaware, a flying saucer will descend over the island of Kauai. This is not a trailer for an alien invasion movie – NASA is gearing up to conduct the first test flight … Continue reading →

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