Mission managers postponed tomorrow’s scheduled launch of a high-altitude balloon carrying NASA’s Low Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD) test vehicle because of unfavorable ocean conditions.
The wave height is not conducive for safe recovery operations. The next launch attempt is Wednesday, June 3, no earlier than 7:30 a.m. HST (1:30 p.m. EDT).
The LDSD crosscutting technology demonstration mission will test breakthrough technologies that will enable larger payloads to be landed safely on the surface of Mars or other planetary bodies with atmospheres, including Earth. The technologies will not only enable landing of larger payloads on Mars, but they also will allow access to much more of the planet’s surface by enabling landings at higher altitude sites.
The project is led by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. It’s supported by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, which manages the project as part of the Technology Demonstration Missions program for NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate in Washington.