Nasa's Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD), a "flying saucer" designed to launch on future missions to Mars, has crash landed on its second test flight after its supersonic parachute failed to properly inflate.
The spacecraft's 100-feet-wide parachute, the largest of its kind ever tested, was supposed to land the LDSD gently into the Pacific Ocean off the island of Kauai, Hawaii. But after failing to unfurl fully, the disc-shaped craft plummeted rather less gracefully than expected into the water.
The LDSD, which is part of the space agency's $230 million project to navigate vessels through Mars' notoriously thin atmosphere and land supplies without crashing, was initially lifted to an altitude of 120,000 feet by a super-sized helium balloon.
After its three-hour lift off from the US Navy Pacific Missile Range Facility, the 15-feet-wide saucer then detached from the balloon and was rocketed to 180,000 feet, before the Decelerator's doughnut-shaped drag devices inflated to slow down its descent. However, for reasons that are as yet unclear, the Supersonic Ringsail failed to open, leaving the LDSD to make its crash landing.
Recovery ships were sent to retrieve the LDSD and its parachute, along with its very own black box-type device, for Nasa to examine what exactly went wrong. An official post-flight briefing is set to be held on 9 June to review the test and hopefully reveal some answers.
Reacting to the LDSD's rocky landing, Nasa engineer and LDSD mission commentator Dan Coatta said: "This is exactly why we do tests like this. When we're actually ready to send spacecraft to Mars, we know that they are going to work when that big mission is on the line."
A similar glitch hit the LDSD's debut flight last year, leading to the parachute being redesigned and strengthened by Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Nasa has been developing the supersonic braking system for around five years, in the hope of helping heavy, fast-moving spacecraft touch down safely on Mars.
However, to put things into perspective, the LDSD weighs around twice that of the largest rover Nasa has so far sent on successful Martian missions.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
