NASA's 'Flying Saucer' Readies for First Test Flight

[rdunk]

Maybe an interesting bit of technology, that NASA is going to check out! The pic of it is certainly not something to write home about! But I guess if NASA can learn from this, we can pay for it! Maybe this test will be the publicity backbone for the announcement of some "real technology" at some point??

June 2, 2014: 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."

A saucer-shaped test vehicle holding equipment for landing large payloads on Mars is shown in the Missile Assembly Building at the US Navy's Pacific Missile Range Facility in Kaua'i, Hawaii.  (see photo below)

"The agency is moving forward and getting ready for Mars as part of NASA's Evolvable Mars campaign," says Michael Gazarik, associate administrator for Space Technology at NASA Headquarters in Washington. As NASA plans increasingly ambitious robotic missions to Mars, laying the groundwork for human science expeditions to come, missions will require larger and heavier spacecraft. The objective of the LDSD project is to see if the cutting-edge, rocket-powered test vehicle operates as it was designed -- in near-space at high Mach numbers.

The way NASA's saucer climbs to test altitude is almost as distinctive as the test vehicle itself. 

More:   http://science1.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2014/02jun_saucer/

                                                     

[sky otter]

Failure to Launch: NASA's Flying Saucer Stays Grounded

By Alan Boyle

Sorry, flying-saucer fans: Unfavorable winds have forced NASA to call off the launch of its saucer-shaped Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator for the fourth time in a week.

The prototype vehlcle, and the team behind it, will have to wait until Wednesday at the earliest to send the LDSD on a mission aimed at testing technologies that could be used for future landings on Mars.

The experiment at the U.S. Navy's Pacific Missile Range Facility in Kauai, Hawaii, was originally scheduled for June 3, then for the 5th, then the 7th, and then Monday. Each time, NASA has had to stand down.



NASA / JPL-Caltech An artist's conception shows the rocket on NASA's Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator sending the craft to near-space altitudes.


"Wind conditions have been the prevailing factor in the launch delays," NASA spokeswoman Shannon Ridinger said in an email on Sunday.

The 15-foot-wide LDSD is supposed to be launched by a helium balloon to a height of 120,000 feet, and then blasted up to 180,000 feet by a solid-fueled rocket engine. As it descends at supersonic speeds, it would inflate an "inner tube" device to increase its diameter to 20 feet. The resulting atmospheric drag should slow the descent enough for the deployment of a super-strong parachute.

A more advanced version of the device could be used to help land multi-ton payloads on Mars. But for this test, NASA wants the LDSD prototype to fall into the Pacific Ocean — and that means upper-level winds have to blowing out to sea rather than inland. So far, the winds have been blowing in the wrong direction.

NASA spokesman David Steitz told NBC News that the current wind pattern appears to be anomalous.

"The LDSD team examined the weather records of PMRF [the Pacific Missile Range Facility] during the past two years, day-by-day, to pick the optimal time of year for cooperative atmosphere and winds," he wrote in an email. "This year, however, Mother Nature appears to have new plans for the winds over Hawaii."

After Wednesday, the team has one more opportunity on the schedule, on June 14. For additional background on NASA's flying saucer, take a look at last week's preview. And to find out which way the winds are blowing, check out the LDSD project's website or follow @NASA_Technology on Twitter.

First published June 8 2014, 6:58 PM


http://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/failure-launch-nasas-flying-saucer-stays-grounded-n125911

[sky otter]

two vids at link

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/nasas-flying-saucer-lands-pacific-after-successful-test-n143451




NASA's 'Flying Saucer' Lands in Pacific After Successful Test

NASA's "flying saucer" device made a hard landing in the Pacific Ocean on Saturday, ending what the space agency deemed a successful test after attempts earlier in June were cancelled due to high winds. A large helium balloon lifted the device, called a low-density supersonic decelerator, 120,000 feet. During its descent, an inflatable so-called "doughnut" apparatus functioned properly, but a newly-designed supersonic parachute failed to deploy, causing the rough landing. NASA will hold a teleconference Sunday to release initial data from the test.

The trial, which began at the U.S. Navy's Pacific Missile Range Facility in Kauai, Hawaii, took about three hours and was meant to test the new parachutes' capabilities. The supersonic parachute, twice the size of the one used to land the Curiosity rover on Mars, is about 110 feet in size. The test's results will help NASA prepare for future Mars missions, which may ultimately include astronauts and require stronger parachutes to ensure a safe descent onto the red planet. Since the 1976 Viking spacecraft landed on Mars, NASA has used the same parachute design.