Nasa plan to test the flying saucer-shaped Low Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD) in the skies above Hawaii within the next ten days in preparation for upcoming missions to Mars.

The LDSD is designed to produce a lot of drag, with the technology developed in the hope of using it to safely land larger payloads on the surface of Mars.

The flying saucer-shaped LDSD uses rapid inflation technology to increase the size of the disc by inflating large durable tubes, with Nasa looking to test various diameters of device to find the optimum compromise between, size, weight, and time to full inflation, amongst other factors.

Nasa intends to test the device in conditions that simulate the “entry, descent and landing speeds a spacecraft would be exposed to when flying through the Martian atmosphere”.

To achieve this, the LDSD will be carried to an altitude of 120,000 feet (36,576m) by a giant balloon. When the balloon is released, rockets will carry the vehicle up to 180,000 feet (54,864m) and accelerate it to supersonic speeds. Once it is travelling at 3.5 times the speed of sound, “the saucer’s decelerator will inflate, slowing the vehicle down, and then a parachute will deploy to carry it to the ocean’s surface”,