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| Nasa 'flying saucer' parachute fails to inflate in test flight | |
| (about 5 hours later) | |
| Nasa let loose a flying saucer into the sky over Hawaii on Monday in order to test a donut-like airbag and its largest parachute ever, but the device did not inflate. | Nasa let loose a flying saucer into the sky over Hawaii on Monday in order to test a donut-like airbag and its largest parachute ever, but the device did not inflate. |
| After several days of delays, the space agency launched its Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator mission, which may help land vehicles on to Mars, from the island of Kauai. But while the chute deployed, Nasa said the balloon above the saucer-shaped test vehicle did not inflate. | After several days of delays, the space agency launched its Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator mission, which may help land vehicles on to Mars, from the island of Kauai. But while the chute deployed, Nasa said the balloon above the saucer-shaped test vehicle did not inflate. |
| “We’ll study data from this test to learn & improve,” the agency said in a tweet. | “We’ll study data from this test to learn & improve,” the agency said in a tweet. |
| Reaching Mach 4, #LDSD's SIAD deployed & inflated. Chute deployed, but did not inflate. We'll study data from this test to learn & improve. | Reaching Mach 4, #LDSD's SIAD deployed & inflated. Chute deployed, but did not inflate. We'll study data from this test to learn & improve. |
| The balloon lifted the vehicle to about 120,000 feet into the air, at which point it released it – and then a rocket on the saucer’s bottom fired, accelerating it to four times the speed of sound and a height of 180,000ft above the Pacific Ocean. | The balloon lifted the vehicle to about 120,000 feet into the air, at which point it released it – and then a rocket on the saucer’s bottom fired, accelerating it to four times the speed of sound and a height of 180,000ft above the Pacific Ocean. |
| The first of Nasa’s two tests began at about 180,000ft above the Pacific, when the vehicle deployed its Supersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator (SIAD), a drag device that inflates full of pressurized gas. “It pops like the airbag in your car, but shaped like a donut,” said Nasa spokesman Joshua Buck. | The first of Nasa’s two tests began at about 180,000ft above the Pacific, when the vehicle deployed its Supersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator (SIAD), a drag device that inflates full of pressurized gas. “It pops like the airbag in your car, but shaped like a donut,” said Nasa spokesman Joshua Buck. |
| The SIAD, which Nasa has elsewhere compared to a Hawaiian pufferfish, increases the size of the vehicle to a 20ft diameter. The larger surface area entails more consequent drag, slowing the vehicle down from mach 4 speed to around mach 2.5 as it descends through the atmosphere. | The SIAD, which Nasa has elsewhere compared to a Hawaiian pufferfish, increases the size of the vehicle to a 20ft diameter. The larger surface area entails more consequent drag, slowing the vehicle down from mach 4 speed to around mach 2.5 as it descends through the atmosphere. |
| The vehicle was then meant to deploy its second test device, a 100ft diameter parachute, which Buck said was the largest supersonic parachute ever tested by Nasa. Together, the two drag devices could double how much Nasa landers can safely land on a planet – from about 3,300lb (1.5 tonnes) to up to 6,600lb (three tonnes). | The vehicle was then meant to deploy its second test device, a 100ft diameter parachute, which Buck said was the largest supersonic parachute ever tested by Nasa. Together, the two drag devices could double how much Nasa landers can safely land on a planet – from about 3,300lb (1.5 tonnes) to up to 6,600lb (three tonnes). |
| The Curiosity Rover, which landed on Mars in 2012, weighed about one tonne. More sophisticated braking systems could allow for bigger and better robots to explore the planet, as well as manned missions. Landing humans on Mars would probably entail a total weight of 15-20 tonnes. | The Curiosity Rover, which landed on Mars in 2012, weighed about one tonne. More sophisticated braking systems could allow for bigger and better robots to explore the planet, as well as manned missions. Landing humans on Mars would probably entail a total weight of 15-20 tonnes. |
| Although the 15ft-wide saucer may alarm imaginative Hawaiians, Buck said it was not designed for humans and is standard issue for testing landers. “It’s just the most logical way up,” he said. “It’s the shape of the vehicle we use to land on Mars.” | Although the 15ft-wide saucer may alarm imaginative Hawaiians, Buck said it was not designed for humans and is standard issue for testing landers. “It’s just the most logical way up,” he said. “It’s the shape of the vehicle we use to land on Mars.” |
| Since the first Viking probe landed on Mars in 1976, Nasa has used parachutes to send rovers and landers to the red planet. But those parachutes can only handle a limited load, leading the agency to design new devices that can deploy at supersonic speeds. | Since the first Viking probe landed on Mars in 1976, Nasa has used parachutes to send rovers and landers to the red planet. But those parachutes can only handle a limited load, leading the agency to design new devices that can deploy at supersonic speeds. |
| Nasa first tested a similar system last year, also using the thin air high over the Pacific to simulate the atmosphere of Mars. The test successfully fired a vehicle 70,000ft in 71 seconds after it reached the correct altitude – but the parachute frayed as it deployed, and the test vehicle crashed hard into the sea. | Nasa first tested a similar system last year, also using the thin air high over the Pacific to simulate the atmosphere of Mars. The test successfully fired a vehicle 70,000ft in 71 seconds after it reached the correct altitude – but the parachute frayed as it deployed, and the test vehicle crashed hard into the sea. |
| “The parachute was moving and inflating faster than we ever thought possible. Suspension lines were all over the place. There was canopy asymmetry, parts of the envelope trying to inflate inside out, and holes starting and propagating wherever you looked,” Ian Clark, Nasa’s principal investigator for the mission said in a release. | “The parachute was moving and inflating faster than we ever thought possible. Suspension lines were all over the place. There was canopy asymmetry, parts of the envelope trying to inflate inside out, and holes starting and propagating wherever you looked,” Ian Clark, Nasa’s principal investigator for the mission said in a release. |
| “There was so much going on in that video in all sorts of gory detail that we did not understand,” he said. Clark’s team spent the subsequent months re-evaluating their design, and developed the parachute that was tested on Monday. | “There was so much going on in that video in all sorts of gory detail that we did not understand,” he said. Clark’s team spent the subsequent months re-evaluating their design, and developed the parachute that was tested on Monday. |
| A third test flight is scheduled for the summer of 2016, using a device that will inflate the vehicle’s size to 26ft in diameter. | A third test flight is scheduled for the summer of 2016, using a device that will inflate the vehicle’s size to 26ft in diameter. |
| Three times this year private spaceflight company SpaceX has tested a separate landing system of rocket thrusters, designed to similarly land large vessels, but so far has failed to land on a barge in the Atlantic on each attempt. | Three times this year private spaceflight company SpaceX has tested a separate landing system of rocket thrusters, designed to similarly land large vessels, but so far has failed to land on a barge in the Atlantic on each attempt. |