Braking parachute lander LDSD, released at the speed of Mach 2.4, exploded.

to Solve the problem of landing of a flying saucer to Mars NASA specialists and failed, reports Newspaper.EN". Supersonic apparatus for braking in the rarefied atmosphere of the Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD) crashed into the water near Hawaii.

Photo: wordpress.com

the Test was conducted as follows: LDSD climbed to an altitude of 37 km, then the device separated and launched a jet engine, which rose to a height of 55 km and clocked up four times the speed of sound.

Then was involved the first part of the braking system — supersonic inflatable aerodynamic decelerator (SIAD), which is a wide skin to instantly inflate with compressed gas around the unit. Thanks to her LDSD becomes like a flying saucer. SIAD is designed to increase the aerodynamic drag of the descent and speed reduction from 4 to 2 Mach numbers.



the First stage ended successfully – SIAD opened up and formed a shell around the "flying saucer", but failed braking parachute, which was released at the speed of Mach 2.4 and exploded. In the end, the same situation was with last year's failed test, also when the parachute didn't open.

See also: NASA will experience a "flying saucer" June 2