NASA Press Briefing Includes Early Test Results for New Planetary Landing Technology

During an August 8 news briefing at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, NASA released new video from last month’s Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator test in Hawaii and discussed early results of the test. The successful cross-cutting demonstration of the LDSD project’s saucer-shaped test vehicle was designed to evaluate technologies for safely landing larger and heavier payloads on the surface of Mars and other planets with atmospheres.

[nahfm]

anyone else having audio issuses? Lot's of artifacting or something

[JMillion]

It sounds like the audio is clipping. Mixed too hot.
Need an a/v guy NASA?

[KennytheHedgehog]

Incredible, the footage at the end, hearing the cheers is always great to hear c:

[mantovannni]

I bet you guys are really stoked about the new EM engine too! Great times!

[mho...]

very interesting!, BUT you have to work on your audio... all those clicks & blibs are really annoying, wearing a headset!

[MrTridac]

Seeing how careful NASA - the guys who have 56 years of experience - approaches a Mars program and then seeing that crazy guy (with the Mars One project) who wants to land people on Mars in nine years, it's clear: If someone brings people to Mars - alive - than it's NASA.

[jcortese]

Even with all the complex machinery at work in these tests and missions, the one thing that continues to impress me most is something that's been the case since the Mercury days: that these devices can be submerged for decent amounts of time in something as corrosive, "dirty, " and unfriendly to sensitive mechanisms as sea water ... and still work after you pull them out and clean them up.  A simple thing to be impressed by, but it always amazes me.  Drop a laptop into the ocean for half an hour, then pull it out, clean it up, and turn it on ... and it's probably not going to work.

[namexox]

NASA state they don’t have a good method of landing large things on the surface of Mars like a 2 storey house the equivalent of 40 metric tonnes.

But NASA had the Space Shuttle or Space Plane which was built for this purpose it can carry payloads up to 20 tones and could be adapted to carry 40 metric tonnes if you increased its width, height or length by 50% or just double the Space Shuttle width.

The Space Shuttle was designed to do deep space travel and planetary atmospheric landings by gliding down so no need for a very large parachute which can easily rip apart demonstrated  here in this video footage.

From the photo data from curiosity the Martian surface looks mainly flat with small loose rocks, therefore innovating the Space Shuttle landing gear and tyres with rough terrain shock absorption should make landing quite safe for astronauts.
 
E.G. reference YouTube Monarch Gyrocopter Stop and Drop G - Force landing gear and Dunlop innovating airless vehicles tyres.(Both innovations greatly reduce the risk from moving over rocky surfaces)

The Space shuttle has a very large opening top for off-loading large cargo payloads which could house a small vertical lift off space craft.

or return back to Earth using the Space Shuttle by horizontal take off  using the Martian atmosphere for lift and deploying its powerful booster rockets from 200 miles up in space.

Question. Therefore NASA why not use the (retired) Space Shuttle or Space Ship? in regards to this video NASA Planetary (new) Landing Technology.

[BonScottAC]

what about a commercial space balloon ride? How much would that cost?

[jeanosorio]

Ian clark looks like wwe's cm punk