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
-
23:26
Bright Insight
8 hours agoThe Gobekli Tepe “Situation” is WORSE Than I Thought
23.8K239 -
22:31
MYLUNCHBREAK CHANNEL PAGE
1 day agoVirginia History in the Making?
43.3K40 -
3:18:05
Jewels Jones Live ®
1 day agoDNC SEWAGE SHOW | A Political Rendezvous - Ep. 89
30.4K30 -
1:09:16
I_Came_With_Fire_Podcast
21 hours ago"Why Voting Matters: Free Speech, America First, & Strong Foreign Policy" with Baker Leavitt
35.8K30 -
2:09:45
LFA TV
12 hours agoSubverting the West - 'Dirty Tricks' of the Chinese Communist Party 2 | WHISTLEBLOWERS with AVA CHEN 8/24/24
53.6K53 -
18:51
Tundra Tactical
19 hours agoVeteran ROASTS your favorite firearms (and your generation)!
75.9K47 -
16:57
Film Threat
17 hours agoTHE CROW | Film Threat Reviews
49.3K21 -
22:39
Misha Petrov
22 hours agoI Took The “Am I Fatphobic?” Quiz
63.6K49 -
6:50
The Gun Collective
1 day agoTop things WRONG with this gun...
58.2K13 -
12:51
Liam Reid
18 hours ago9-Year-Old 250 2 Stroke vs Modern 4 Stroke!
77.8K31