The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) tested their latest flying saucer for the Mars Landing System for the second time, which ended quickly because of a parachute problem.
According to Thomson Reuters via CBC news, the problem that caused the debut flight for the Low Density Decelerator's System (LDSD) not to function well is also the reason of the issue they are facing now. They redesigned the parachute for the LDSD after that fail debut, but it seems they still need more work to optimize the system better to avoid future failures.
The parachute used for LDSD measured 30 meters in diameter, which was the largest of its kind that was tested. For almost five years of developing, NASA spent $230 million for this braking system.
In the test landing, the saucer was sent up to 54,864 meters above the ground and over the Pacific Ocean using a big helium balloon and the power of rocket motor-integrated LDSD. The altitude is roughly 5 times higher than a commercial plane is allowed. The staggering rising speed was 4 times faster than the speed of sound going down to the ground.
Stimulating a test flight in a condition like this is a necessity for NASA to see and prepare for it. The space agency does not expect Mars to have a better condition for their future mission, so the best thing they can do is to prepare for the worst.
Though the results were not the outcome they desired, NASA expressed such kinds of tests are important for their success.
"This is what exactly why do we do tests like this. When we're actually ready to send spacecraft to Mars, we know that they are going to work when that big mission is on the line," Engneer Dan Coatta of NASA said.
