LDSD: The Great Shakeout Test For Mars (NASA/JPL)

NASA readies for the experimental flight of the Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD), a test vehicle designed for landing larger payloads on Mars. The saucer-shaped vehicle will undergo its first test flight in June 2014 from the U.S. Navy's Pacific Missile Range Facility in Kauai, Hawaii.