--- title: NASA’s ‘Flying Saucer’ description: After years of development and several postponements, the Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator--designed to help NASA develop Mars-landing technology--had its crucial second test flight over Hawaii on June 8. Here's how it fared. canonical: https://time.com/3917705/nasas-flying-saucer/ author: Jeffrey Kluger article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-06-11T15:09:56.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T08:07:36.158Z article:section: Science og:title: NASA’s ‘Flying Saucer’ og:description: After years of development and several postponements, the Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator--designed to help NASA develop Mars-landing technology--had its crucial second test flight over Hawaii on June 8. Here's how it fared. og:url: https://time.com/3917705/nasas-flying-saucer/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: NASA’s ‘Flying Saucer’ twitter:description: After years of development and several postponements, the Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator--designed to help NASA develop Mars-landing technology--had its crucial second test flight over Hawaii on June 8. Here's how it fared. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # NASA's 'Flying Saucer'  by [Jeffrey Kluger](https://time.com/author/jeffrey-kluger/)  ## Jeffrey Kluger Editor at Large Jun 11, 2015 3:09 PM UTC  by [Jeffrey Kluger](https://time.com/author/jeffrey-kluger/)  ## Jeffrey Kluger Editor at Large Jun 11, 2015 3:09 PM UTC 1 After the craft was lofted by balloon and dropped at an altitude of 22.7 miles (36.5 km), its engine fired for 66 sec., during which it climbed to 34 miles (55 km). 2 Once the engine shut off–prompting the craft to flip over, as planned–the balloon-like top inflated to increase drag and slow its plunge. 3 A parachute deployed to carry the craft to Earth (as it would on Mars), but it tore away during descent; NASA said it would refine the tech. 4 A third test is scheduled for mid-2016\. The goal: to make manned visits to Mars easier by doubling the weight that can be placed on the Martian surface. For more on these ideas, visit [time.com/theview](http://time.com/theview) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3917705/nasas-flying-saucer/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3917705/nasas-flying-saucer/"},"headline":"NASA's 'Flying Saucer'","datePublished":"2015-06-11T15:09:56.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T08:07:36.158Z","description":"After years of development and several postponements, the Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator--designed to help NASA develop Mars-landing technology--had its crucial second test flight over Hawaii on June 8. Here's how it fared.","url":"https://time.com/3917705/nasas-flying-saucer/","keywords":[],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jeffrey Kluger","jobTitle":"Editor at Large","url":"https://time.com/author/jeffrey-kluger/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3917705/nasas-flying-saucer/","name":"NASA's 'Flying Saucer'"}}]}] ```