MAY 26, 2015

The second flight test of NASA's Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD) now will launch no earlier than 10:30 a.m. PDT (1:30 p.m. EDT, or 7:30 a.m. HST) Tuesday, June 2, from the U.S. Navy's Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) on Kauai, Hawaii. NASA Television coverage will begin at 10 a.m. PDT (1 p.m. EDT, or 7 a.m. HST).
To accommodate prevailing weather conditions, mission managers moved the launch window one hour earlier to increase the probability of LDSD launching on time.
NASA's LDSD project is designed to investigate and test breakthrough technologies for landing future robotic and human Mars missions and safely returning large payloads to Earth. The test, performed over the Pacific Ocean, will simulate the supersonic entry and descent speeds at which the spacecraft would be traveling through the Martian atmosphere.
As part of an LDSD media day on Monday, June 1 at PMRF, a mission overview briefing at 8 a.m. HST (11 a.m. PDT, or 2 p.m. EDT) will be broadcast live on NASA TV and online at:
http://www.nasa.gov/nasatv
http://www.ustream.tv/nasajpl2

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