NASA to test giant Mars parachute on Earth

[Beyond]

It's to big to be tested inside, in a wind tunnel, so it will be tested outside, at around 34,000 feet, which is similar to Mar's atmosphere.



http://news.msn.com/science-technology/ ... e-on-earth

[bystander]

Science@NASA: 'Flying Saucer' Readies for First Test Flight

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

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It only sounds like science fiction.

To test a new technology for landing heavy payloads on Mars, NASA is about to drop a flying-saucer shaped vehicle from a helium balloon high above Earth's surface.

The first launch opportunity for the Low Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD) is June 3rd at 8:30 a.m. HST, when the launch window opens at the U.S. Navy's Pacific Missile Range Facility in Kauai, Hawaii. Officials are calling it an "engineering shakeout flight."

NASA's Saucer-Shaped Craft Preps for Flight Test

NASA's LDSD 'Flying Saucer' Test--Update

NASA Coverage for Saucer-Shaped Test Vehicle Flight

[Beyond]

This is the same thing that's posted 5-Topics down... {NASA to test giant Mars parachute on Earth.} It's just written a bit differently. They've had a delay in launch.

[Beyond]

I wonder if launched on schedule and if so, how it did??

[Chris Peterson]

It's to big to be tested inside, in a wind tunnel, so it will be tested outside, at around 34,000 feet, which is similar to Mar's atmosphere.

Not very similar. At the surface, the Martian air pressure is about the same as on Earth at 120,000 feet.

[Beyond]

It's to big to be tested inside, in a wind tunnel, so it will be tested outside, at around 34,000 feet, which is similar to Mar's atmosphere.

Not very similar. At the surface, the Martian air pressure is about the same as on Earth at 120,000 feet.

OOPS! Somehow 34 miles got transmogrified into 34,000feet. (Never was very good at math)
Thanks Chris.

[BMAONE23]

I wonder if launched on schedule and if so, how it did??

Postponed until the 7th or after
Updates

[BMAONE23]

June 12, 2014

9th Update 12:30 PM PDT

NASA did not conduct the flight test of the agency's Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD) from the U.S. Navy's Pacific Missile Range in Kauai, Hawaii, during its designated launch period. The project's reserved time at the range will expire Saturday, June 14, with NASA unable to fly the test because of continuing unfavorable weather conditions.

Mark Adler, the Low Density Supersonic Decelerator project manager and Ian Clark, principal investigator on the project, both from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, participated in a media teleconference this morning and addressed questions on the project.

"There were six total opportunities to test the vehicle, and the delay of all six opportunities was caused by weather," said Adler. "We needed the mid-level winds between 15,000 and 60,000 feet to take the balloon away from the island. While there were a few days that were very close, none of the days had the proper wind conditions."

[Beyond]

http://www.wfsb.com/story/25895271/mars ... -nasa-test