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NASA Testing Saucer Shaped Spacecraft | TechBeat

NASA’s test of the craft will be groundwork for future Mars missions.

NASA sets new dates for saucer-shaped test vehicle flight

This artist's concept shows the test vehicle for NASA's Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD), designed to test landing technologies for future Mars missions. A balloon will lift the vehicle to high altitudes, where a rocket will take it even higher, to the top of the stratosphere, at several times the speed of sound. The Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator Project is managed by JPL for NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate in Washington. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech