NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is working on a "flying saucer" that could one day deliver rovers to Mars.
Advanced Mars missions in the future will require "massive payloads" that are much larger than the famous one-ton Curiosity rover, a JPL news release reported.
In hopes of making this possible, researchers are working to develop "sturdy and lightweight system to deliver next-generation landers to Mars," the news release reported.
The systems would be able to slow large machinery through the supersonic speed reached while entering the red planet's atmosphere and deliver them safely to the ground.
The technique that could be used to achieve this is inspired by the Hawaiian pufferfish' o'opu hue, which has the ability to grow in size without gaining mass.
The new technology, dubbed "low density supersonic decelerators," (LDSD) could be used to solve the complicated problem of slowing down heavy equipment as it enters the Martian atmosphere.
NASA has been using a parachute-based deceleration system since the 1970s, but this system can only deliver items of so much mass through Mars' extremely thin atmosphere. LDSD could also help make it possible to land in mountainous regions of high elevation.
"A successful LDSD test program would bring these new technologies
to sufficient readiness levels allowing them to be infused into potential future robotic and human mission designs," the news release reported.
The researchers plan to test the new technology in Earth's atmosphere in order to lower the risk of Mars missions that would potentially use the technique. Three different devices will be demonstrated at the speed of sound.
The researchers hope the Stratospheric tests of the LDSD will be conducted in 2014 and 2015 at the at the Pacific Missile Range Facility operated by the U.S. Navy in Kauai, Hawaii.
"NASA will publish a draft environmental assessment for public review before any final decisions on test flights from Hawaii are made," the news release reported.
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