As NASA prepares to ramp up its efforts to finally send a manned mission to Mars, the agency is also getting ready for the first high altitude test of its new Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD). The flying saucer shaped decelerator will be put through its paces in Hawaii.
The LDSD was designed to solve one of the biggest problems concerning missions to Mars, landing a heavy piece of payload safely on the Martian surface. While existing deceleration devices have already put expensive and moderately heavy payloads on Mars, such as the Curiosity rover, these older systems are limited in terms of payload capacity. In order to land heavier payloads on Mars, NASA had to design a new decelerator system from scratch. The agency's efforts eventually culminated in the current LDSD.
The LDSD will be able to land even heavier payloads on Mars, even when the said payloads are descending to the Martian surface at supersonic speeds. Among the problems the researchers had to solve, the issue of Mar's thinner atmosphere was one of the key issues that had to be addressed. Due to the thinner atmosphere, a decelerator system needed to be able to reduce to speed of a descending craft with little help from air resistance. NASA's aging decelerator system dates back to 1976 when the agency successfully put two landers on Mars as part of its Viking Program. If progress is to be made for NASA's Roadmap to Mars, the agency will need to thoroughly test its new LDSD system.
"This first test is a true experimental flight test," said LDSD principal investigator Ian Clark. "Our goal is to get this first-of-its-kind test vehicle to operate correctly at very high speeds and very high altitudes."
The nearest launch window for the LDSD test above the skies of Hawaii will open in the morning of June 3, Tuesday. The upcoming test will be the first time that the LDSD will be put through its paces at high altitudes. By dropping the decelerator from high up in the Earth's atmosphere, NASA hopes to recreate the density of the atmosphere on Mars. The decelerator will be carried up to a height of 120,000 feet using a scientific balloon filled with helium. Once it reaches its target altitude, the LDSD will be dropped and will start descending at rapid speed towards the ground.
To carry the decelerator into the desired height, NASA will use a massive balloon with a capacity of around 34 million cubic feet. Soon after detaching the LDSD, the decelerator will plummet to the ground reaching speeds of up to Mach 4. Once it hits top speed, the inflatable decelerators will be deployed to slow the LDSD down. After reaching a suitable, albeit still supersonic speed, the craft will then deploy a supersonic parachute to slow it down even further. The craft is expected to splash down safely in the Pacific ocean where it will be retrieved by the designated recovery boats.
