What's it like to ride shotgun on a flying saucer ? Image Credit: NASA/JPL
The space agency has released new video footage from its LDSD test flight back at the end of June.
The Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator is a new saucer-shaped vehicle designed to enable the landing of larger and heavier payloads on the surface of other worlds such as Mars.
NASA launched the system back on June 28th from the Pacific Missile Range Facility in Hawaii for a test flight which saw the vehicle being lifted to a height of 120,000ft by a large balloon.
Consisting of a large doughnut shaped air brake called the Supersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator and a specially designed parachute called the Supersonic Disksail Parachute, the mission proved to be a success and now new footage has been released showing what it would have been like to have been on board the vehicle during the flight.
"As far as I am concerned, whenever you get to ride shotgun on a rocket-powered flying saucer, it is a good day," said mission principal investigator Ian Clark.
"We hope the video will show everyone how beautiful and awesome the test was, and to just to give folks an insight into what experimental flight test is all about."
High-Def Video of NASA's 'Flying Saucer' TestLDSD principal investigator Ian Clark takes us through a play-by-play of NASA's 'Flying Saucer' Test in Hawaii.Credit: NASA/JPLSource: NASA/JPL - Videos
NASA Press Briefing Includes Early Test Results for New Planetary Landing TechnologyDuring an August 8 news briefing at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, NASA released new video from last month’s Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator test in Hawaii and discussed early results of the test. The successful cross-cutting demonstration of the LDSD project’s saucer-shaped test vehicle was designed to evaluate technologies for safely landing larger and heavier payloads on the surface of Mars and other planets with atmospheres.Credit: NASASource: NASA - Multimedia
Well I imagine the AA and UFO people are going to be all over this one. Becuase , you know, its all a gubmint coverup. Please people.... your setting the human race back hundreds of years because you prefer to live in a fantasy world. Seriously if your lifes that bad that you xant face reality then get some meds.
I wonder how many UFO reports will come out of this test. The fact that it was launched from under a balloon at an altitude of 120,000 ft more than 100 miles off the coast over the Pacific Ocean makes it highly unlikely that it was seen at all.
What a fantastic piece of engineering! Although we all know that this is only going to serve to increase the amount of false UFO reports..... No we don't know that. See my post above.
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