In its quest to explore Mars surface, NASA has successfully conducted a test flight of a saucer-like vehicle high above the earth as part of a project designed to place more massive payloads on the red planet.
The vehicle, called the Low Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD), flew to 57,900 metres at more than four times the speed of sound and simulated Martian landing conditions.
The experimental flight, which cost about USD 150 million and was conducted from the US Navy's Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai, Hawaii in late June, was intended as a dry run for two more tests scheduled for next year.
The space agency said the project will allow access to more of the planet's surface by enabling landings at higher altitude sites.
The goal of this experimental flight test was to determine if the balloon-launched design could reach the altitudes and airspeeds needed to test two new breakthrough technologies destined for future Mars missions.
"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.
"We are literally re-writing the books on high-speed parachute operations, and we are doing it a year ahead of schedule," he added.
