Of course, this is no ordinary lander. NASA JPL is testing a design called SHIELD, which stands for a simplified high impact energy landing device. It uses a cone that absorbs energy, causing it to collapse on impact, like a modern car does when struck from the front or back.
JPL shared a video on Thursday showing SHIELD in action during a drop test from the 90-foot-tall (27-meter-tall) tower. The device landed hard on a thick steel plate at 110 mph (177 km/h) to simulate the worst-case scenario it could encounter when it reached Mars. It is worth noting that stuffed in the prototypecell phoneThere were no screen breakages on this trip.
Systems like SHIELD could be simpler, more affordable, and more flexible than current designs, which involve parachutes and thrusters to slow landings. “We think we can go to more dangerous areas where we don’t want to risk putting a billion-dollar rover with our current landing system,” SHIELD program manager Lou Giersch said in a statement from NASA JPL.
If the lander eventually works in Martian conditions, it could potentially be used in other interesting places in the solar system, including moons.
It’s still early days for SHIELD, but initial descent tests of the foldable portion of the lander are promising. The team will now work on designing the rest of the lander. Perhaps one day, the seven minutes of terror upon Mars’ arrival will be shortened to a “second of terror” at the moment of impact.