Posted on 10/18/2014 6:30:44 PM PDT by BenLurkin
Because the technologies required to land large payloads on Mars are significantly different than those used here on Earth, investment in these technologies is critical,” said NASA’s Principal Investigator for NASA’s Propulsive Descent Technologies (PDT) project Robert Braun. “This is the first high-fidelity data set of a rocket system firing into its direction of travel while traveling at supersonic speeds in Mars-relevant conditions. Analysis of this unique data set will enable system engineers to extract important lessons for the application and infusion of supersonic retro-propulsion into future NASA missions.”
While NASA and other organizations have researched similar technologies – no company or agency has carried out tests during an actual mission – except SpaceX. NASA’s DC-X and Blue Origin’s New Shepard test vehicles have tested out similar systems. However, to date, only SpaceX has carried out actual supersonic retropropulsion during a mission.
(Excerpt) Read more at spaceflightinsider.com ...
The SpaceX dragon lander is specifically designed with Mars in mind, which is why it was not designed to need a runway or other such infrastructure. When SpaceX goes to Mars, it will be using variations of technology they have been developing all along.
Booster re-use and using liquid natural gas as fuel is where SpaceX may be changing the game.
Interesting!
If anyone wants to understand Elon Musk and SpaceX, they have to understand he wants to go to Mars. As in personally. Naturally within his lifetime. Everything he is building with SpaceX is a dual use technology that he can use to get to Mars. He doesn’t want to be a launch company, or to supply the space station. He is building an infrastructure that can get to Mars, and allowing others to pay for it by developing it in useful stages. His launch backlog is already in the tens of billions. Those contracts will pay for his Mars tech.
I would love to have a basket of rocks sampled in a controlled manner on Mars to take a long look at. So far, there is only so much the landers can actually do. So many questions.
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