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janrinok writes:

An Ars Technica story contains a video and a link to the technical data [PDF] demonstrating the Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD), which is necessary for slowing the descent of large payloads onto the surface of Mars, and is essential for any future manned mission there.

NASA's Martian robots have used the planet's thin atmosphere to their advantage while landing, slowing down through a combination of aerobraking and parachutes. But the space agency hopes to put larger hardware on the red planet's surface - eventually followed by manned exploration. Those missions will require correspondingly larger braking hardware.

As part of its technology development program, NASA [is] testing a system called the Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator. Rather than a solid shield, the LDSD has a rim of inflatable material that greatly enhances its braking capabilities when fully deployed. In addition, the system includes a large parachute that's able to be deployed at supersonic speeds.

In June, NASA launched what you could call a "falling saucer." Carried aloft by a balloon, then rocketed further into the stratosphere, the payload tested the deployment of both the inflatable heat shield and the parachute during the ensuing free-fall.