Posted in:
If humans want to land safely on Mars one day, they’ll have to invent a spacecraft that can slow down enough to survive by entering the Red Planet’s atmosphere.
In 2021, NASA was able to bring its Perseverance rover safely to the surface of Mars using a parachute. But this technology isn’t enough for larger payloads, such as missiles carrying people on board.
In this context, the US Space Agency may have a solution to this problem, as its engineers have developed a large, inflatable, flying saucer-like heat shield that will be launched into low Earth orbit this week to begin experiments on it. .
Once in orbit, the flying saucer will inflate and return to the Earth’s surface. NASA hopes the test will demonstrate how the heat shield can act as a giant brake to slow a future spacecraft to Mars.
If successful, the test could mark a milestone in the agency’s ambitious goal of sending humans to the Red Planet within the next decade.
Video showing how the new spaceship works:
