HAMPTON, Va. — NASA’s LOFTID, the Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator, is set to launch early in the morning on November 1, 2022, from the Vandenburg Space Force Base in California.
LOFTID is a NASA Langley led technology demonstration that shows how an inflatable heat shield is used on re-entry into the atmosphere.
“We need new technologies to land safely,” David Young, Deputy Director of NASA Langley Research Center, told News 3 on Wednesday.
Engineers said the decelerator is designed act as a giant brake while it enters the Mars atmosphere. Tuesday's launch will be in partnership with United Launch Alliance Atlas V, which is launching its Joint Polar Surveyor System-2 (JPSS-2) at the same time.
As the weather satellite begins to orbit Earth, the inflatable heat shield will re-enter the planet's atmosphere and inflate, demonstrating the shield's abilities to slow down and survive the journey back to the surface.
“What this technology development mission allows us to do is to test this technology in the environment you’d use in the future,” said Young.
NASA Langley said this technology will help deliver heavy payloads, include those containing humans, to Mars.
