Rockets fire in this short video captured by the test vehicle for NASA's Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD) project. The rocket-powered, saucer-shaped test vehicle's flight occurred in late June from the U.S. Navy's Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai, Hawaii.
The goal of this experimental flight test, the first of three planned for the project, was to determine if the balloon-launched, rocket-powered, saucer-shaped, design could reach the altitudes and airspeeds needed to test two new breakthrough technologies destined for future Mars missions.
More about the test flight at NASA's website.
Divers retrieve the test vehicle for NASA's Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator off the coast of the U.S. Navy's Pacific Missile Range Facility in Kauai, Hawaii.
Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Moments into its powered flight, the LDSD test vehicle captured this image of the balloon which carried it to high altitudes. The image was taken by one of the saucer-shaped test vehicle's high-resolution cameras.
Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech
The test vehicle for NASA's Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator is seen here before and after the balloon that helped carry it to near-space was deflated. Image: JPL/Caltech
Moments into its powered flight, the LDSD test vehicle captured this image of the balloon which carried it to high altitudes. The image was taken by one of the saucer-shaped test vehicle's high-resolution cameras.
Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech
