Sorry, flying-saucer fans: Unfavorable winds have forced NASA to call off its launch of its saucer-shaped Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator for the fourth time in a week.
The 15-foot-wide test vehlcle, and the team behind it, will have to wait until Wednesday at the earliest to send the LDSD on a mission aimed at testing technologies that could be used for future landings on Mars.
The experiment at the U.S. Navy's Pacific Missile Range Facility in Kauai, Hawaii, was originally scheduled for June 3, then for the 5th, then the 7th, and then Monday. Each time, NASA has had to stand down.
'Wind conditions have been the prevailing factor in the launch delays,' NASA spokeswoman Shannon Ridinger said in an email on Sunday.
The 15-foot-wide LDSD is supposed to be launched by a helium balloon to a height of 120,000 feet, and then blasted up to 180,000 feet by a solid-fueled rocket engine. As it descends at supersonic speeds, it would inflate an 'inner tube' device to increase its diameter to 20 feet. The resulting atmospheric drag should slow the descent enough for the deployment of a super-strong parachute.
A more advanced version of the device could be used to help land multi-ton payloads on Mars. But for this test, NASA wants the LDSD prototype to fall into the Pacific Ocean - and that means upper-level winds have to blowing out to sea rather than inland. So far, the winds have been blowing in the wrong direction.
NASA spokesman David Steitz told NBC News that the current wind pattern appears to be anomalous.
'The LDSD team examined the weather records of PMRF [the Pacific Missile Range Facility] during the past two years, day-by-day, to pick the optimal time of year for cooperative atmosphere and winds,' he wrote in an email. 'This year, however, Mother Nature appears to have new plans for the winds over Hawaii.'
After Wednesday, the team has one more opportunity on the schedule, on June 14. For additional background on NASA's flying saucer, take a look at last week's preview. And to find out which way the winds are blowing, check out the LDSD project's website or follow @NASA_Technology on Twitter.
First published June 8 2014, 6:58 PM
Entities 0 Name: NASA Count: 6 1 Name: LDSD Count: 3 2 Name: Hawaii Count: 2 3 Name: Pacific Ocean Count: 1 4 Name: David Steitz Count: 1 5 Name: Mother Nature Count: 1 6 Name: Shannon Ridinger Count: 1 7 Name: Kauai Count: 1 8 Name: U.S. Navy Count: 1 Related 0 Url: http://ift.tt/1uyphQ3 Title: NASA's Using Space Laser to Download Video From Orbit at Gigabit Speeds Description: NASA's latest data download just covered way more distance, and contained way more awesome, than any earthbound file transfer: the agency beamed a high-def video down from the International Space Station this week using a high-powered laser. Go ahead and give your WiFi router a good stern look.
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