NASA testing ‘flying saucer’ Mars lander

Humanity may one day be landing on Mars in flying saucers, if NASA’s test of the new lander design proves successful. A rocket-powered disc with an inflatable donut-shaped balloon on top is intended to replace the 1970s landing technology.

Dubbed the “Low Density Supersonic Decelerator” (LDSD), the vehicle is supposed to make it possible to “safely land heavier spacecraft on Mars.” The idea is to use the balloon cover as a “drag device,” to safely decelerate in the thin Martian atmosphere from almost hypersonic speeds to twice the speed of sound (Mach 2). A parachute would then slow the LDSD down to subsonic speeds, and it would land using stabilizer rockets.

The four stabilizer rockets will be tried out in Tuesday’s “spin-table” test, at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

Source: http://rt.com/usa/245709-nasa-mars-flying-saucer/

 

NASA testing ‘flying saucer’ Mars lander