NASA's 'Flying Saucer' Readies for First Test Flight   
       
   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."   
       
   http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/pia18006ldsdbig-main_1.jpeg   
       
   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.  More   
       
   "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.   
       
   "We use a helium balloon -- that, when fully inflated, would fit snugly into   
   Pasadena's Rose Bowl -- to lift our vehicle to 120,000 feet," said Mark Adler,   
   project manager for the Low Density Supersonic Decelerator at NASA's Jet   
   Propulsion Laboratory. "From there we drop it for about one and a half   
   seconds. After that, it's all about going higher and faster -- and then it's   
   about putting on the brakes."   
       
   A fraction of a second after dropping from the balloon, and a few feet below   
   it, four small rocket motors will fire to spin up and gyroscopically stabilize   
   the saucer. A half second later, a Star 48B long-nozzle, solid-fueled rocket   
   engine will kick in with 17,500 pounds of thrust, sending the test vehicle to   
   the edge of the stratosphere.   
       
   http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/pia18007ldsdhang_0.jpeg   
       
   A saucer-shaped vehicle designed to test interplanetary landing devices hangs   
   on a tower in preparation for launch at the Pacific Missile Range.     
   More"Our goal is to get to an altitude and velocity which simulates the kind   
   of environment one of our vehicles would encounter when it would fly in the   
   Martian atmosphere," said Ian Clark, principal investigator of the LDSD   
   project at JPL. "We top out at about 180,000 feet and Mach 4. Then, as we slow   
   down to Mach 3.8, we deploy the first of two new atmospheric braking systems."   
       
   "After years of imagination, engineering and hard work, we soon will get to   
   see our Keiki o ka honua, our 'boy from Earth,' show us its stuff," says   
   Adler. "If our flying saucer hits its speed and altitude targets, it will be a   
   great day."   
       
   The project management team decided also to fly two supersonic decelerator   
   technologies that will be thoroughly tested during two more LDSD flight tests   
   next year. If this year's test vehicle flies as expected, the LDSD team may   
   get a treasure-trove of data on how the 6-meter supersonic inflatable   
   aerodynamic decelerator (SIAD-R) and the supersonic parachute operate a full   
   year ahead of schedule.   
       
   The SIAD-R, essentially an inflatable doughnut that increases the vehicle's   
   size and, as a result, its drag, is deployed at about Mach 3.8. It will   
   quickly slow the vehicle to Mach 2.5 where the parachute, the largest   
   supersonic parachute ever flown, first hits the supersonic flow. About 45   
   minutes later, the saucer is expected to make a controlled landing onto the   
   Pacific Ocean off Hawaii.   
       
   NASA TV will carry live images and commentary of LDSD engineering test. The   
   test vehicle itself carries several onboard cameras. It is expected that video   
   of selected portions of the test, including the rocket-powered ascent, will be   
   downlinked during the commentary. Websites streaming live video of the test   
   include http://www.nasa.gov/nasatv and http://www.ustream.tv/nasajpl2   
       
   Credits:   
   Production editor: Dr. Tony Phillips | Credit: Science@NASA   
       
   Web Links:  For more information about LDSD, visit http://www.na   
   a.gov/mission_pages/tdm/ldsd/   
   NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate in Washington funds the LDSD   
   mission, a cooperative effort led by JPL. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center   
   in Huntsville, Alabama, manages LDSD within the Technology Demonstration   
   Mission Program Office. NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia is   
   coordinating support with the Pacific Missile Range Facility and providing the   
   balloon systems for the LDSD test.   
       
       
   Regards,   
       
   Roger   
      
   --- D'Bridge 3.99   
    * Origin: NCS BBS - Houma, LoUiSiAna (1:3828/7)