NASA Tests LDSD 'Flying Saucer' - LIVE VIDEO

The live coverage has already began:
www.ustream.tv...

NASA mission managers are preparing for a launch attempt today, Saturday, of a high-altitude balloon carrying the Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD) test vehicle to the edge of space on a test flight from the U.S. Navy's Pacific Missile Range Facility in Kauai, Hawaii.

Live coverage on this channel will begin at 8:10 a.m. HST (11:10 a.m. PDT/2:10 p.m. EDT).
Today's balloon launch window extends from approximately 8:15 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. HST (11:15 a.m. to noon PDT, 2:15 to 3 p.m. EDT). The balloon will take approximately 2-3 hours to achieve float conditions. Shortly thereafter, the test vehicle will be released from the balloon and the test will begin.

Let's see how it goes, and if that thing flies at all.

ATS threads about this craft:
NASA's Saucer-Shaped Craft Preps for Flight Test
Nasa to test 'flying saucer' Mars lander in Hawaii as preparation for manned missions

a reply to: wildespace
Appreciate the heads up WS.
This will look like a giant conventional UFO shape if it works,so check out the skies Hawaii !
I wish I could be there to see it.
But the live stream is the next best thing.
Cheers!

This is boss-everyone on ATS interested in space tech should be viewing this now!
I wish I could put out an alert.

a reply to: Silcone Synapse
Winds are pretty light easterly at lower levels, switching to southwesterly higher up. People on Kauai may be able to see something but not much chance from the other islands.

originally posted by: Phage
a reply to: Silcone Synapse
Winds are pretty light easterly at lower levels, switching to southwesterly higher up. People on Kauai may be able to see something but not much chance from the other islands.

And that was Phage with weather. Next up on sports....

I think it'll probably fly... since it's hanging from a balloon. a reply to: wildespace

a reply to: thesmokingman
Next up on sports,the balloon is holding,and the weather is peachy in space.
Its working so far.

This is part one of a 12-step program to get people to Mars,” said Project Manager Mark Adler of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Canada Flintridge.

On Saturday, assuming all goes well, these vessels will collect the sodden remains of a massive high-altitude balloon, a saucer-shaped spaceship and its black box (which is designed to detach when it hits the water in case the vehicle starts to sink).

If they do, it will mean the first full-scale test of NASA’s new Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator (or LDSD) took place high in the atmosphere. The LDSD could be the space agency’s next hero in the quest to explore the Red Planet; the device acts like a brake pedal for large loads headed to its surface.

To those just tuning in, LDSD stand for Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator.

NASA says their search for Mars-like conditions in Earth's atmosphere led them to the Hawaiian island of Kauai. Pretty cool. Their other option was the Australian outback but they weren't too keen on lugging all their people and gear into a remote desert.

The NASA team figured out how to install a rocket engine in the prime real estate where the parachute usually belongs, smack dab in the center of a circular projectile. They have learned new knots for attaching the device to the balloon and debated which type of dye markers will help them find the floating objects in the sea.

Its just faded out of the camera range on the live link:

www.ustream.tv...

The balloon looked like a floating brain.
I want this to work.

looks like the shoot didn't fully open.
Impact in 17 minutes.

a reply to: Silcone Synapse

Dang.
Better luck next time guys. That was pretty cool.

Splashdown at about 5:30 EST

They're still calling it a very successful test.

a reply to: IAMTAT

I can see why. Everything worked except for the partial chute deployment.

There you go Finally giving it out in small pieces admitting that they have something not of this earth FINALLY !!!

a reply to: jaytay

You're kidding, right?
It's quite of this Earth.

Worked pretty well, too.

yes just trying to have some fun. ah well.

originally posted by: jaytay
yes just trying to have some fun. ah well.

Emoticons are your friend.

Hello, this is my first post on the forum. I just watched this video (the first one in the article) www.space.com... and noticed this strange white object at 1:07-1:08. What's that?

originally posted by: raikata
Hello, this is my first post on the forum. I just watched this video (the first one in the article) www.space.com... and noticed this strange white object at 1:07-1:08. What's that?

Can't say for sure, but perhaps it's the covering that connected the craft to the helium balloon.

Here's a new HD video of the test they released: www.youtube.com...