--- title: NASA's 'Flying Saucer' Prepared for Take Off description: NASA will launch a disc-shaped vehicle into space on Wednesday, in order to test a roomier spacecraft designed for long-haul missions to Mars. canonical: https://time.com/3904665/nasa-flying-saucer-mars-mission/ author: Dan Kedmey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-06-02T11:36:03.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T07:49:03.431Z article:section: Science og:title: NASA's 'Flying Saucer' Prepared for Take Off og:description: NASA will launch a disc-shaped vehicle into space on Wednesday, in order to test a roomier spacecraft designed for long-haul missions to Mars. og:url: https://time.com/3904665/nasa-flying-saucer-mars-mission/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9f2682eac0ce126d/6988528a06f2c16d8233a701/nasa-flying-saucer.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: NASA flying saucer og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: NASA's 'Flying Saucer' Prepared for Take Off twitter:description: NASA will launch a disc-shaped vehicle into space on Wednesday, in order to test a roomier spacecraft designed for long-haul missions to Mars. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9f2682eac0ce126d/6988528a06f2c16d8233a701/nasa-flying-saucer.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # NASA Prepares 'Flying Saucer' for Take Off ## Video: Curiotisty Rover: One Year on Mars [Watch (HLS stream): Curiotisty Rover: One Year on Mars](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/eVfZ9UKE.m3u8) (3:59)  _Published 2013-08-05. It's been one year since the Curiosity Rover touched down on the red plantet._  by [Dan Kedmey](https://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Jun 2, 2015 11:36 AM UTC  NASA/JPL-Caltech  by [Dan Kedmey](https://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Jun 2, 2015 11:36 AM UTC **Correction appended, June 4** NASA will launch a disc-shaped vehicle into space on Wednesday, in order to test a roomier spacecraft designed for long-haul missions to Mars. The Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator will lift off from a launchpad off the coast of Kauai, Hawaii, carried into the stratosphere by a massive high-altitude weather balloon. The vehicle will detach from the balloon and blast off at four times the speed of the sound, soaring to a peak altitude of more than 22 miles above the Earth. [**MORE: 20 Breathtaking Photos of the Earth From Space**](http://time.com/11534/20-breathtaking-images-of-the-earth-as-seen-from-space/) “As NASA plans ambitious robotic science missions to Mars, laying the groundwork for even more complex human expeditions to come, the spacecraft needed to land safely on the Red Planet’s surface will become larger and heavier in order to accommodate explorers’ extended stays on the Martian surface,” [read](http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=4607) a statement from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. **Correction**: The original version of this story misstated the peak altitude the spacecraft will reach. 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