LOFTID Spacecraft Uncrating

Teams working at Building 836 on Vandenberg Space Force Base in California remove NASA’s Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID) from its shipping container on Monday, Aug. 15, 2022. LOFTID is a rideshare launching with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Joint Polar Satellite System-2 (JPSS-2) satellite. The technology demonstration mission is slated to test new capabilities for landing payloads, including in a thinner atmosphere like that on Mars.

Teams working at Building 836 on Vandenberg Space Force Base in California remove NASA’s Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID) from its shipping container on Monday, Aug. 15, 2022. LOFTID is a rideshare launching with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Joint Polar Satellite System-2 (JPSS-2) satellite. The technology demonstration mission is slated to test new capabilities for landing payloads, including in a thinner atmosphere like that on Mars.