The flying saucer, synonymous with UFOs or unidentified celestial objects, is no longer just imagination. NASA is developing a flying saucer-shaped spacecraft. The dream is that the flying saucer can load humans and heavy objects to go to Mars.
The flying saucer launch is scheduled for November 1, 2022 in low Earth orbit. The flying saucer has the official name Low Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Shock Absorber (LOFTID).
Once there, LOFTID will float, before returning to earth. NASA hopes that tests will show how the spacecraft can slow the spacecraft long enough to survive its entry into the atmosphere.
If proven successful, the technology could one day allow humans to land safely on Mars. When it comes to landing on planets, including Mars, Venus, and Earth, one of the main challenges NASA faces is how to deliver heavy payloads.
Take, for example, the “decisive seven minutes” in which NASA’s Perseverance rover used a parachute to descend to the Martian surface last year.
Radio signals sent from NASA and vice versa take 10 minutes for both sides to make contact, so after the ground team grounded Perseverance, the rover had to process the takeover before embarking on an epic journey all by itself.
The spacecraft carrying Perseverance through the Martian atmosphere was traveling at 12,000 miles per hour, but then had to slow to zero miles per hour seven minutes later to land safely on the surface.
Perseverance was able to safely land without injury using a parachute. However, the landing process will be more difficult for larger payloads, such as rockets with humans on board.
“LOFTID technology enables various proposed NASA missions to destinations such as Mars, Venus, Titan and back to Earth. When the spacecraft enters the atmosphere, the drag helps slow it down,” NASA said as quoted by the Daily Mail.
However, the Martian atmosphere is much denser than Earth’s, which poses an extreme challenge to aerodynamic decelerations.
“The atmosphere is dense enough to provide some drag, but too thin to slow a spacecraft to the same speed as Earth’s atmosphere,” NASA explained.
Their solution to this problem is a giant inflatable heat shield that acts as a brake. A 20-foot-wide heat shield will be placed in the upper atmosphere, allowing the spacecraft to slow down earlier, while experiencing less intense heating.
The shield will be launched into space aboard the United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket, along with the JPSS-2 weather satellite in polar orbit.
Once JPSS-2 reaches orbit, it will expand and be positioned on a re-entry trajectory from low Earth orbit to test its ability to slow down and survive reentry.
If successful, the technology could prove crucial in helping NASA achieve its ambitious goal of launching humans to Mars within the next decade.
“This technology can support landing crews and large robotic missions to Mars, as well as return heavier payloads to Earth,” added NASA.
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(hsa / dpra)
