On June 28, NASA successfully test-launched a saucer-shaped craft that could one day be used to transport astronauts to Mars. An enormous helium balloon carried the "Low Density Supersonic Decelerator" 23 miles into the air, where it then got a boost from a rocket engine before an inflatable ring started the craft's deceleration on its return plummet into the Pacific Ocean.
While the Los Angeles Times notes that the craft's final braking component, a 100-foot-wide parachute, frayed and tore as it dropped, scientists said they were very pleased with the first test.
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