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The scene is the U.S. Navy’s Pacific Missile Range Facility, Kauai, Hawaii. On June 8, NASA performed a critical Technology Demonstration Mission (TDM) that has major implications for future Mars missions. A Low Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD) test involved a rocket-powered, saucer-shaped vehicle that flew to near-space, high above Earth. The balloon-enabled mission evaluated two key technologies for landing robotic and support systems for scientific and human exploration missions on the Red Planet: a Supersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator (SIAD), a large doughnut-shaped air brake eyed as a technology to land large payloads on Mars and other destinations that have an atmosphere, and a supersonic ringsail parachute.
That latest test followed up from a June 2014 flight and both missions validated a SIAD. The back-to-back LDSD flights also assessed a state-of-the-art supersonic parachute. It’s the largest parachute ever flown at 100 feet in diameter.
Jurczyk notes that both LDSD flights provided important lessons learned given the inability of the high-tech parachute to maintain its structural integrity.
“That’s what we’re about. We’re pushing technology and some things are going to work as we intended and some things are not,” Jurczyk points out. The LDSD team is now fully engaged in deciphering the physics behind supersonic parachute deployments, “a physically complex problem,” he adds.
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