How to Stop a Supersonic Rocket Sled

Video of rocket-sled testing of the SIAD-R device, conducted in fall 2012 at China Lake, Calif. The SIAD-R is one of three supersonic deceleration devices now being prepared for flight testing by the Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator project at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. The devices, which slow the rate of descent for vehicles entering the atmosphere of another planet, could be used in Mars missions launching as early as 2018. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/tdm/ldsd/ldsd_overview.html#.U7GZsfld…