NASA recently unveiled the Low Density Supersonic Decelerator, a disc-shaped spacecraft which could potentially deliver supplies for future manned Mars missions.
See: Engineering Update 54: NASA to send flying saucers to Mars
In theory, NASA’s flying saucer would, upon descent, deploy a 100-foot-wide parachute to decelerate from a Mach 3.5 descent down to about twice the speed of sound.
The Low Density Supersonic Decelerator should be able to ferry up to 100 tons to the red planet.
Filed Under: Aerospace + defense
