NASA has postponed the anticipated "flying saucer" test, but plan to give it another go on Thursday. (For previous HNGN coverage of the Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator tests, click here.)
"Mission managers have postponed Wednesday's scheduled launch of a high-altitude balloon carrying NASA's Low Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD) test vehicle because of unfavorable conditions. The next launch attempt is Thursday, June 4, no earlier than 1:30 p.m. EDT (7:30 a.m. HST)," according to NASA's LDSD blog. "The ocean wave height continues to be an issue for the crew that would recover the vehicle and its data after splashdown."
"LDSD test success requires an intricate set of events, including use of a high-altitude balloon, rocket engines, an aeroshell and multiple supersonic decelerators. The LDSD crosscutting technology demonstration mission will test breakthrough technologies that will enable larger payloads to be landed safely on the surface of Mars or other planetary bodies with atmospheres, including Earth."
Previous launch attempts were scheduled and postponed, but NASA's "flying saucer" is set to launch on Thursday and the event will be aired live. "You get to see all the same video I do, at the same time I do," said Mark Adler, project manager for LDSD at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. "This year's test is centered on how our newly-designed supersonic parachute will perform. We think we have a great design ready for the challenge, but the proof is in the pudding and the pudding will be made live for everyone to see."
Watch "the pudding" right here, with HNGN!
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