JPL
Careers
Education
Science & Technology
JPL Logo
JPL Logo
Solar System
.

First LDSD Test Flight a Success

June 29, 2014
Hours after the June 28, 2014, test of NASA's Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator over the U.S. Navy's Pacific Missile Range, the saucer-shaped test vehicle is lifted aboard the Kahana recovery vessel.› Full image and caption
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Two members of the Navy's Explosive Ordinance Disposal team swim towards the pilot ballute (a combination balloon and parachute used for braking at high altitudes and speeds) that was used to deploy the parachute. The recovery vessel Mana'o II is in the background.› Full image and caption
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
This image, taken by a member of NASA's Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator team onboard a recovery vessel, shows the initial moments of the June 28, 2014, powered flight of the saucer-shaped test vehicle.› Full image and caption
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
The first "flown" test vehicle of Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator project relaxes aboard the recovery vessel Kahana.› Full image and caption
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Hours after its successful engineering flight, the first test vehicle for NASA's Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator project is lifted aboard the recovery vessel Kahana. › Full image and caption

The project declares the first test flight of NASA's Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator a success.

NASA representatives participated in a media teleconference this morning to discuss the June 28, 2014 near-space test flight of the agency's Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD), which occurred off the coast of the U.S. Navy's Pacific Missile Range Facility in Kauai, Hawaii.

A high-altitude balloon launch occurred at 8:45 a.m. HST (11:45 a.m. PDT/2:45 p.m. EDT) from the Hawaiian island facility. At 11:05 a.m. HST (2:05 p.m. PDT/5:05 p.m. EDT), the LDSD test vehicle dropped away from the balloon as planned and began powered flight. The balloon and test vehicle were about 120,000 feet over the Pacific Ocean at the time of the drop. The vehicle splashed down in the ocean at approximately 11:35 a.m. HST (2:35 p.m. PDT/5:35 p.m. EDT), after the engineering test flight concluded. The test vehicle hardware, black box data recorder and parachute were all recovered later in the day.

"We are thrilled about yesterday's test," said Mark Adler, project manager for LDSD at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. "The test vehicle worked beautifully, and we met all of our flight objectives. We have recovered all the vehicle hardware and data recorders and will be able to apply all of the lessons learned from this information to our future flights."

This test was the first of three planned for the LDSD project, developed to evaluate new landing technologies for future Mars missions. While this initial test was designed to determine the flying ability of the vehicle, it also deployed two new landing technologies as a bonus. Those landing technologies will be officially tested in the next two flights, involving clones of the saucer-shaped vehicle.

"Because our vehicle flew so well, we had the chance to earn 'extra credit' points with the Supersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator [SIAD]," said Ian Clark, principal investigator for LDSD at JPL. "All indications are that the SIAD deployed flawlessly, and because of that, we got the opportunity to test the second technology, the enormous supersonic parachute, which is almost a year ahead of schedule."

The Supersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator (SIAD) is a large, doughnut-shaped first deceleration technology that deployed during the flight. The second is an enormous parachute (the Supersonic Disk Sail Parachute). Imagery downlinked in real-time from the test vehicle indicates that the parachute did not deploy as expected, and the team is still analyzing data on the parachute so that lessons learned can be applied for the next test flights, scheduled for early next year.

In order to get larger payloads to Mars, and to pave the way for future human explorers, cutting-edge technologies like LDSD are critical. Among other applications, this new space technology will enable delivery of the supplies and materials needed for long-duration missions to the Red Planet.

"This entire effort was just fantastic work by the whole team and is a proud moment for NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate," said Dorothy Rasco, deputy associate administrator for the Space Technology Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "This flight reminds us why NASA takes on hard technical problems, and why we test - to learn and build the tools we will need for the future of space exploration. Technology drives exploration, and yesterday's flight is a perfect example of the type of technologies we are developing to explore our solar system."

NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate funds the LDSD mission, a cooperative effort led by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. NASA's Technology Demonstration Mission program manages LDSD at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Wallops Island, Virginia, coordinated support with the Pacific Missile Range Facility and provided the balloon systems for the LDSD test.

For more information about the LDSD space technology demonstration mission:

http://go.usa.gov/kzZQ

For more information about the Space Technology Mission Directorate, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/spacetech

The follow-along page from the media teleconference can be found at: http://www.nasa.gov/jpl/ldsd/telecon2014/

News Media Contact

DC Agle

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

818-393-9011

agle@jpl.nasa.gov

David Steitz

(202) 358-1730

Shannon Ridinger

256-544-3774

shannon.j.ridinger@nasa.gov

Stefan Alford

808-335-4740

stefan.alford@navy.mil

2014-210

Related News

Mars .

My Favorite Martian Image: ‘Enchanted’ Rocks at Jezero Crater

Mars .

Help NASA Scientists Find Clouds on Mars

Robotics .

Swarm of Tiny Swimming Robots Could Look for Life on Distant Worlds

Mars .

NASA’s Curiosity Takes Inventory of Key Life Ingredient on Mars

Asteroids and Comets .

NASA to Discuss Psyche Asteroid Mission

Mars .

NASA Mars Orbiter Releasing One of Its Last Rainbow-Colored Maps

Mars .

NASA’s Curiosity Captures Stunning Views of a Changing Mars Landscape

Mars .

NASA’s InSight Gets a Few Extra Weeks of Mars Science

Mars .

NASA, Partner Establish New Research Group for Mars Sample Return Program

Solar System .

NASA’s Europa Clipper Mission Completes Main Body of the Spacecraft

Explore More

Image .

Radar Observations of Near-Earth Asteroid 7335 1989 JA

Event June 30, 2022 .

JPL & the Space Age: The Pathfinders

Image .

Revealing Europa Clipper's Core

Image .

Europa Clipper's Core

Image .

NASA's Europa Clipper Arrives in Southern California

Image .

Europa Clipper: Rolling Into NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Image .

Juno Skims the Cloud Tops of Jupiter

Event Aug. 18, 2022 .

Voyager – 45 Years in Space

Event July 21, 2022 .

Curiosity – A Decade on Mars

Event June 23, 2022 .

Spacecraft Assembly, Test, and Launch Operations (ATLO)

About JPL
Who We Are
Executive Council
Directors
Careers
Internships
The JPL Story
JPL Achievements
Documentary Series
Annual Reports
Missions
Current
Past
Future
All
News
All
Earth
Solar System
Stars and Galaxies
Subscribe to JPL News
Galleries
Images
Videos
Audio
Podcasts
Apps
Visions of the Future
Slice of History
Robotics at JPL
Events
Lecture Series
Team Competitions
Speakers Bureau
Calendar
Visit
Public Tours
Virtual Tour
Topics
JPL Life
Solar System
Mars
Earth
Climate Change
Exoplanets
Stars and Galaxies
Robotics
More
Asteroid Watch
NASA's Eyes Visualizations
Universe - Internal Newsletter
Social Media
Get the Latest from JPL
Follow Us

JPL is a federally funded research and development center managed for NASA by Caltech.

More from JPL
Careers Education Science & Technology Acquisitions JPL Store
Careers
Education
Science & Technology
Acquisitions
JPL Store
Related NASA Sites
Basics of Spaceflight
Climate Kids
Earth / Global Climate Change
Exoplanet Exploration
Mars Exploration
Solar System Exploration
Space Place
NASA's Eyes Visualization Project
Voyager Interstellar Mission
NASA
Caltech
Privacy
Image Policy
FAQ
Feedback
Site Managers: Veronica McGregor, Randal Jackson
Site Editors: Tony Greicius, Naomi Hartono