NASA closer to Mars landing with planned flying saucer testing

NASA has postponed the first test of the world's largest parachute and a flying saucer that are intended to potentially become vehicles for landing on Mars.

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LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - The test was canceled because of weather conditions and rough seas, but the test will be attempted again Thursday if conditions have improved.

The flying saucer is known as the Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator, and its test flight will be broadcast live on NASA's website if it flies on Thursday, though the launch window remains possible until June 12.

"The ocean wave height continues to be an issue for the crew that would recover the vehicle and its data after splashdown," a statement from NASA said following the postponement. The launch was scheduled for Tuesday originally, but conditions were not ready then either.

While parachutes have been capable of holding descending spacecraft since the 1970s, the stated goal of putting people on Mars in the 2030s complicates things. The new parachute would allow for heavier spacecraft, the kind that would be required to house people and food supplies, to land safely.

"We want to see if the chute can successfully deploy and decelerate the test vehicle while it is in supersonic flight," said a statement from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

The vehicle that is to be tested weights in at just a little over 6,800 pounds, and is twice the weight of the rovers that NASA currently is capable of landing safely on Mars.

The parachute is 100 feet in diameter and is described by JPL as "the largest parachute ever deployed."

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