Sled tests will allow NASA Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator Project, or LDSD, to test inflatable and parachute decelerators to slow spacecraft prior to landing.

NASA Supersonic Disk Sail Parachute, one of the new technologies being developed as part of NASA Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator LDSD project, floats just below the surface of the Pacific Ocean on June 28, 2014.

The main structural body of the second flight test vehicle in NASA Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator LDSD project is seen during its assembly in a cleanroom at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

The saucer-shaped test vehicle for NASA Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator LDSD project, packaged in the box shown here, was shipped via plane to the Navy Pacific Missile Range Facility in Kauai, Hawaii on April 17.

Members of the team for NASA Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator LDSD stand in front of the project saucer-shaped test vehicle at the U.S. Navy Pacific Missile Range Facility in Kauai, Hawaii.

A saucer-shaped vehicle part of NASA Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator LDSD project designed to test interplanetary landing devices hangs on a tower in preparation for launch at the Pacific Missile Range Facility in Kauai, Hawaii.

Two members of the U.S. Navy's Mobile Diving Salvage Unit (MDSU) 1 Explosive Ordnance Detachment work on recovering the test vehicle for NASA's Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD) project. The saucer-shaped LDSD craft splashed down at 11:49 a.m. HST (2:49 PDT/5:49 p.m. EDT) Monday, June 8, 2015, in the Pacific Ocean off the west coast of the Kauai, Hawaii, after a four-hour experimental flight test that investigated new technologies for landing future robotic and human Mars missions. During the flight test, a Supersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator (SIAD) and a supersonic parachute were deployed. The SIAD operated as expected, dramatically slowing the test vehicle's velocity. When the parachute was deployed into the supersonic slipstream, it appeared to blossom to full inflation prior to the emergence of a tear which then propagated and destroyed the parachute's canopy. As a result, the saucer's splashdown in the Pacific Ocean was hard, resulting in fracturing parts of the structure. Memory cards containing comprehensive test data -- including high-speed, high-resolution imagery recorded during the flight -- were successfully recovered. Also recovered were the test vehicle and its components, the supersonic parachute, the ballute used to deploy the parachute, and a large weather balloon that initially carried the saucer to an altitude of 120,000 feet. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19684

NASA Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator project, will test an inflatable decelerator and a parachute at high altitudes and speeds over the Pacific Missile Range this June.

In this picture, NASA saucer-shaped experimental flight vehicle is prepared for a Range Compatibility Test at the U.S. Navy Pacific Missile Range Facility in Kauai, Hawaii.

Divers retrieve the test vehicle for NASA Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator off the coast of the U.S. Navy Pacific Missile Range Facility in Kauai, Hawaii.

Two members of the Navy Explosive Ordinance Disposal team perch on the test vehicle used in the first flight of NASA Low-density Supersonic Decelerator project.

This image shows the tower from which the test vehicle for NASA Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator LDSD will hang before a balloon lifts it to high altitudes.

The first flown test vehicle of NASA Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator project relaxes aboard the recovery vessel Kahana.

Tears are visible in the parachute from NASA Supersonic Disk Sail Parachute, which did not deploy as expected. The photo was obtained by Navy divers during recovery of the LDSD test vehicle and parachute.

Hours after the June 28, 2014, test of NASA Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator over the U.S. Navy Pacific Missile Range, two members of the Navy Explosive Ordinance Disposal swim toward the test vehicle.

Hours after the June 28, 2014, test of NASA Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator over the U.S. Navy Pacific Missile Range, the saucer-shaped test vehicle is lifted aboard the Kahana recovery vessel.

This frame from a video clip shows rockets fired by the test vehicle for NASA Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator project.

The test vehicle for NASA Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator is seen here before and after the balloon that helped carry it to near-space was deflated.

The first flown test vehicle of NASA Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator project relaxes aboard the recovery vessel Kahana.

NASA's Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator test vehicle attached to launch tower just prior to take off. LDSD completed its second flight test when the saucer-shaped craft splashed down safely Monday, June 8, 2015, in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of the Hawaiian island of Kauai. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19683

This artist concept shows the test vehicle for NASA Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator LDSD, designed to test landing technologies for future Mars missions.

NASA's Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD) hangs from a launch tower at U.S. Navy's Pacific Missile Range Facility in Kauai, Hawaii. The saucer-shaped vehicle will test two devices for landing heavy payloads on Mars: an inflatable donut-shaped device and a supersonic parachute. The launch tower helps link the vehicle to a balloon; once the balloon floats up, the vehicle is released from the tower and the balloon carries it to high altitudes. The vehicle's rocket takes it to even higher altitudes, to the top of the stratosphere, where the supersonic test begins. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19342

Crews from the Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility prepare the balloon for flight for the 2014 NASA Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator test from the U.S. Navy Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai, Hawaii.

Engineers unload ground support equipment for a June engineering test flight above Kauai, Hawaii. The test flight is part of NASA LDSD project, which is investigating cutting-edge landing technologies that could fly on future Mars missions.

Moments into its powered flight, NASALow-density Supersonic Decelerator LDSD test vehicle captured this image of the balloon which carried it to high altitudes.

The saucer-shaped test vehicle for NASA Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator LDSD will undergo a series of events in the skies above Hawaii, with the ultimate goal of testing future landing technologies for Mars missions.

An engineer works on the Parachute Deployment Device of the Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator test vehicle in this image taken at the Missile Assembly Building at the U.S. Navy Pacific Missile Range Facility in Kauai, Hawaii.

Hours after its successful engineering flight, the first test vehicle for NASA Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator project is lifted aboard the recovery vessel Kahana.