How Do Spacecraft Slow Down? NASA Technologist
How do spacecraft slow down? Rigid heat shields and retropropulsion have been the favorites of engineers for years. Now NASA is testing a new inflatable heat shield technology that could allow us to carry even larger payloads to worlds with atmospheres: https:// www.nasa.gov/loftid
Launching on Nov. 1 aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket along with NOAA's JPSS-2 mission, the Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator, or LFTID, will demonstrate the heat shield's ability to slow down and survive atmospheric entry: https://go.nasa.gov/3N7yzBG
Producers: Scott Bednar, Jessica Wilde
Editor: Daniel Salazar
Credit: NASA
#NASA #Technology #Spacecraft #Nasanews
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How to Crash Land on Mars | NASA Tests Ways to Crash Land on Mars |
NASA is testing a new way of landing on Mars... by crashing into its surface.
The Simplified High Impact Energy Landing Device (SHIELD) is a lander concept being tested at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). It could one day provide a new way for low-cost missions to land on Mars.
Rather than rely on parachutes or retrorockets, SHIELD would include a collapsible, accordion-like base to absorb the energy of a landing. A full-size prototype of the base was tested on Aug. 12, 2022.
The prototype was hurled at the ground from the top of a nearly 90-foot-tall (27-meter-tall) drop tower at JPL. A steel plate ensured the impact was even harder than what would be experienced on Mars.
The design worked: After crushing against the steel plate at 110 mph (177 kph), several electronic components inside the SHIELD prototype, including a smartphone, survived the impact.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/California Academy of Sciences
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