Testing of the spacecraft landing system

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory is testing a soft landing system intended for the spacecraft that will travel to Mars. Test drive goes to the landfill China Lake, California. To simulate extreme loads using straight stretch of railway track, trolley with a rocket, accelerate to supersonic speed. Watch the video.

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NASA recently performed a trial run on a rocket sled test fixture, powered by rockets, to replicate the forces a supersonic spacecraft would experience prior to landing. The sled tests will allow the Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator Project, or LDSD, to test inflatable and parachute decelerators to slow spacecraft prior to landing and allow NASA to increase landed payload masses, improve landing accuracy and increase the altitude of safe landing-sites. (NASA)