The data is in for one of NASA’s latest projects, the Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD). The project team recently tested two decelerator technologies that could hopefully enable larger payloads to land safely on the surface of Mars.
A high-altitude balloon carrying the LDSD test vehicle launched from the U.S. Navy’s Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) on Kauai, Hawaii. The vehicle separated from the balloon at about 120,000 ft. above the ocean, ascending to 180,000 ft. with an onboard rocket. From there, the Supersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator (SIAD) braking technology deployed at Mach 3.
Fourteen seconds after SIAD’s inflation, the vehicle’s 100-foot-wide parachute was released into the supersonic slipstream. The LDSD’s chute has more than double the area of the parachute used for the Mars Science Laboratory mission that carried the Curiosity rover to the surface of Mars.
Unfortunately, a tear appeared in the canopy shortly after full inflation due to large amounts of drag.
“Early indications are that we got what we came for, new and actionable data on our parachute design," said Mark Adler, project manager for LDSD at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, CA. "At present, our data is in the form of low-resolution video and some other nuggets of data which were downlinked in real-time. But this will soon change when our test vehicle makes port, and we have the opportunity to inspect the ultra-high resolution, high-speed imagery and other comprehensive information carried in the memory cards on board our saucer."
The recent flight was the LDSD’s second launch test, with the first flying on June 26, 2014, to demonstrate the operation of the vehicle. For the first test, the SIAD did not inflate as designed.
See this video below for a closer look at how the 2014 test flight went.
Using the data from last year’s test, the LDSD team developed a new formula for this year’s chute in an attempt to make it stronger and efficiently shaped, to survive the initial shock of supersonic slipstream.
“The physics involved with LDSD is so cutting-edge we learn something profound every time we test," said Ian Clark, principal investigator for LDSD at JPL. "Going into this year's flight, I wanted to see that the parachute opened farther than it did last year before it began to rupture. The limited data set we have at present indicates we may not only have gone well down the road to full inflation, but we may have achieved it.”
With a successful inflation of the SIAD and a successful deployment and inflation of their supersonic ballute (an inflatable used to pull the 200 lb. parachute from its canister), Clark feels confident in the technology. “We have matured them to the point where they can be used, with confidence, on future missions," he said.
What might this mean for the future of Mars missions? With more advanced landing technology, the hope is that we can not only get more robots to reach Mars’ surface, but make it safe enough to land the first humans there.
The LDSD will hopefully lead to the kind of landing technology we’ll need to safely deliver the materials necessary for the development of settlements on Mars, turning current fantasy into future reality.
NASA hopes to release high-resolution imagery and other data from the test to the public in about two weeks.
For more information on the LDSD, visit www.nasa.gov.