NASA Tests Ways to Crash Land on Mars
We’re 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
-
LIVE
2 MIKES LIVE
3 hours ago2 MIKES LIVE #86 NEWS BREAKDOWN WEDNESDAY, WITH SPECIAL GUEST JOY PULLMANN!
785 watching -
DVR
WeAreChange
3 hours agoBiden BANKROLLERS Want Return On THEIR INVESTMENT, Order JOE TO GO!
21.4K14 -
16:24
China Uncensored
2 hours agoChina's Economy is in Ruins—Local Debt Out of Control
8.67K24 -
13:40
Brad Polumbo
10 hours agoWoke TikTokers LOSE THEIR MIND Over Conservative Supreme Court Win!
11.8K13 -
1:14:46
ReasonTV
8 hours agoAndy Mills: Quitting The New York Times and making 'The Witch Trials of J.K. Rowling'
12.8K1 -
1:08:15
Kimberly Guilfoyle
9 hours agoFurry Friends Special: The Power & Purpose of Animal Rescue w/Jason Gluck, Meg Weinberger & John Rourke | Ep. 139
22.9K21 -
1:15:10
Battleground with Sean Parnell
7 hours agoDem Circular Firing Squad w/ Savage Rich Baris
139K16 -
1:34:07
Veteran Biker
4 hours agoDemocrats Pick Kamala over Biden!
14.5K19 -
1:12:26
TENET Media
4 hours agoGold Star Mother Drops Bombshell on Biden: 'Joe's Cognitive Decline Killed My Marine Son'
17.4K8 -
2:18:41
Darkhorse Podcast
8 hours agoCommon Sense, Inverted: The 232nd Evolutionary Lens with Bret Weinstein and Heather Heying
43.4K39