The project of NASA's Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator ("Supersonic moderator low density") is intended to use to soften the landing on Mars aerodynamic drag in the form sphere, first used in the space industry company Armadillo Aerospace.
Rocket sled, first used for the German ballistic missiles A4b, will become the only possible instrument ground testing seven-meter-balloons parachutes. (Photo NASA.)

But one inflatable ball, it seems, will not do.

The way to Mars a long and complicated: the average flight of automatic interplanetary station is delayed more than six months, and just fly is always a problem. And even more difficult to land. For future marajade mission of NASA, it is extremely important point: the more the Rover and the lander, the more difficult it is to brake in time.

In the first four (out of six) minutes of atmospheric braking lander loses most of speed, but even then it is more than 1 600 km/h, and prior to landing (primanivanija?) - just 100 seconds. At this point, open the parachute to slow the SPACECRAFT only up to 320 km/h, but by the time of its operation before the meeting with the surface are a matter of seconds - and just 100 meters height. What to do next?

NASA is experiencing three approaches: landing on the engines as the Soviet "Luna-24" sample 1976, air bags, softening the blow of Mars, and a combination of rocket thrust and cables for secure (read - at minimum speed) of the descent of the Rover on the surface of the red planet.

However while any of these options with the existing machines are unable to land something so big that it could contain people and their livelihoods. Even though SpaceX promises to develop such tools by 2016, NASA sees this company only as a private earth carrier without considering this option seriously.

Moreover, technically parachutes used to Phoenix, one of the last American missions to Mars, is a copy of parachutes "Viking" - that is, devices 1970-ies. Even Curiosity, which landed on Mars in August, uses the same archaic! "We have outgrown the capabilities of [these parachutes] and need more parachute, which could provide a descent of a greater payload", - said mark Adler, the head of the project Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator.

Well, that NASA almost half a century later, however, decided to improve the system of parachutes for descent to Mars, deserves praise.

The project idea is to use an ambitious technology, recently unsuccessfully tested (albeit with a much bigger backswing) Armadillo Aerospace, John Carmack, to brake its own missiles.

Within this NASA initiatives are being developed three moderator descent module: two large inflatable ball-parachute 6 and 7 meters in diameter, inflate around the perimeter of the descent module (and not by a rope from above, like Carmack)to increase the friction on discharged Martian atmosphere at supersonic part of the descent, and a parachute with a diameter of 33 feet. The first two should slow the vehicle with M3,5 to M2. Then the time will come 33-meter parachute, which will allow the SPACECRAFT to slow to 1 760 (M2 in the Martian atmosphere) up to 280 km/H. All three devices will be the largest ever developed for the landing on Mars.

Typically, these systems have in wind tunnels. However, none of them reaches 33 meters in diameter (and supersonic wind tunnel 7-8 meters - it is also more than a desired). So now for testing devices are used rocket sled. At the end of this year as planned test 4,5-meter protective casing for engines soft landing.

The culmination of the tests will rise command-aggregate capsule the size of a "apollonovichu" to a height of 36 km to simulate conditions tenuous Martian atmosphere, with the subsequent discharge in additional rocket acceleration up to M4. This step must be held within 18 months after the first, tentatively in 2014.

In sum, the new system slowdown should allow to double the maximum permissible mass landers, able to gently land on the surface of Mars.

Prepared according to NASA.