A photo from open sources The space agency is actively preparing for landing on Mars, and now it’s experiencing a titanic parachute, who can provide a landing on the Red Planet.
The key to successfully landing on Mars is the same in what it consists of landing on any planet: slowly brake, before falling to the ground. And that’s why NASA’s engineers are currently testing a supersonic parachute which is how they hope to be able to provide the softest fit for the heaviest spacecraft – like those that will be delivered sooner or later people to the surface of the red planet.
A photo from open sources
This week they gathered at a missile test site in Hawaii for Testing of Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD) – Complex a set of devices, including an inflatable flying saucer and giant parachute designed to land on Mars. Name, which this prototype was given – Keiki about ka honua, which means “Child Earth “in Haitian.
This parachute is much larger than any other parachutes that used in space missions before. Having a diameter of 33 meter, it is more than two times larger than the parachute that lowered Curiosity to the surface of Mars in August 2012.
To simulate the over-discharged atmosphere of Mars, scientists experience LDSD at an altitude of 54 kilometers – it’s 16 kilometers further than the point from which Felix Baumgartner jumped. And this halfway to space.
A photo from open sources
If everything goes according to plan, then as soon as the LDSD reaches a height 54,000 meters, a Kevlar pipe is inflated around the device – it help create resistance when the device falls freely on Earth, and at the same time will collect data during this process. On the maximum speed the whole system will move four times exceeding the speed of sound, and heats up to 315 degrees Celsius. TO the moment the parachutes open, the device will already slow down to Mach 2.5 and then will plan for another 45 minutes to the place of his landing in Pacific Ocean, where scientists will pick it up.
The device will be equipped with four GoPro cameras and several by others. And over the next year, NASA plans to test over Hawaii has two more inflatable vehicles.
Mars NASA
