NASA is abandoning airbags and seeking other technologies for landing masses of 900kg (2,000lb) or more onto the surface of Mars.
In the US space agency's future Mars Science Laboratory and other missions, payloads will be at least 1,800kg including the entry, descent and landing system (EDLS). This is thought too heavy for airbag technology.
The investigation at NASA's Langley Research Centre (LRC) aimed to identify EDLS technologies that could be deployed in the next 10 years.
The study looked at four scenarios: a landing with aerocapture, supersonic and subsonic parachutes and a liquid fuel rocket terminal descent system (LRTDS); a 19m wide inflatable aeroshell, a subsonic parachute only and LRTDS; a landing similar to the second, but with a different-shaped inflatable aeroshell; and an inflatable supersonic decelerator, a subsonic ring sail parachute and LRTDS. The study concluded these all needed more research.
Source: Flight International
