Decelerator
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The Big Picture: Recovering NASA's flying saucer
Despite Independence Day being right around the corner, what you're seeing up above shouldn't get your hopes up about welcoming any aliens to Earth. Besides, everyone knows that the government would likely never release pictures of that sort of thing anyhow. What's pictured is actually the result of NASA's first Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD) test-flight that took place over the weekend, and the image was captured a few hours after the vessel touched down over the US Navy's Pacific Missile Test Range. Currently there are plans to test the aerospace outfit's not-a-UFO at least two more times ahead of its ultimate goal: a trip to Mars. [Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech]
NASA readies Mars 'flying saucer' for risky hypersonic flight test
The wispy atmosphere of Mars is 99 percent thinner than Earth's -- not great for slowing down space ships or metorites. NASA's testing a way to make it work, however, using a helium balloon, rockets and a Low Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD) vehicle, which looks suspiciously like a UFO. The plan is to launch the LDSD to 120,000 feet using the balloon, then push it to the edge of space (180,000 feet) with the powerful solid-fueled rocket. At that point it'll be traveling hypersonically at Mach 4 in the stratosphere, simulating a Mars arrival. A second, donut-like balloon called the "supersonic inflatable aerodynamic decelerator" will then deploy, increasing the craft's surface area and slowing it to about Mach 2.5. Finally, the largest supersonic parachute ever tested will pop, allowing the vehicle to eventually touch down in the ocean. If the complex plan goes awry, NASA will learn from the data it gathers and try again in order to meet its ambitious Mars exploration schedule. Either way, it'll be fun to watch -- the launch is set for tomorrow in Hawaii between 2:00 and 3:30 PM ET.
Lorenz Potthast's Decelerator helmet gives you slow-motion vision, sci-fi style
Ever wish you could just push a slow-mo button and cause the hustle and bustle of city life to ease up a little? Maybe you'd just like to seal yourself off from your surroundings within the confines of a shiny aluminum sphere. German artist Lorenz Potthast didn't stop at thinking about it, he did something. Dubbed the "Decelerator," the avant garde piece of headgear does just that: it has a camera that feeds video to the head-mounted display inside, with the wearer (or someone else) able to control the speed of the video playback with a remote. A netbook stuffed in the top handles all the video processing, and an LCD on the outside offers passers-by a look at what the wearer sees. You can find a video after the break and more details at the source link below if you're interested in building your own -- Potthast apparently has no plans to go into the Decelerator business.
