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posted by Fnord666 on Wednesday February 22 2017, @12:47AM   Printer-friendly
from the Ben-Franklin-would-be-proud-of-our-astroboffins dept.

NASA will soon be testing high-altitude parachute systems that let astroboffins land valuable scientific research payloads from altitudes of 60,000 feet.

The technique, using parafoils – cellular aerofoils of the same sort used to make high-performance stunt kites – will, so NASA hopes, allow it to recover scientific instruments used for high-altitude data gathering experiments without chasing balloons across vast tracts of America.

Instead of sending payloads up on research balloons and hoping the weather doesn't blow them too far off course, the parafoil method allows for payloads to be released from the balloon at around 60,000ft and then be steered back to earth for an "automatic precision landing".

[...] Being able to drop a payload from 60,000ft on to a defined point is a great leap forward from the current situation where it's a best guess as to where the payload lands, as long-time Reg readers will recall from the early LOHAN tests in Spain.


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 22 2017, @05:30AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 22 2017, @05:30AM (#470009)

    and what's the worst that could happen?

    It careens into the ISS, causing the space station to fragment and disintegrate entirely. Then the debris speeds up and destroys all other satellites and space stations in orbit.

  • (Score: 2) by gawdonblue on Wednesday February 22 2017, @11:03AM

    by gawdonblue (412) on Wednesday February 22 2017, @11:03AM (#470101)

    That would be terrible. I wouldn't find out whether it burns up on re-entry :(