US-SCIENCE-NASA-LDSD-MARS

Journalists dressed in special suits are briefed inside the Clean Room at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California on the agency's Low Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD) project on April 9, 2014. The rocket-powered, flying saucer-shaped test vehicle will soon be sent to Hawaii from where it will be propelled into near-space in June from the US Navy's Pacific Missile Range Facility on the island of Kauai, Hawaii. The LDSD project is aimed at enabling large payloads to be safely landed on the surface of Mars, or other planetary bodies with atmospheres, including Earth, and also allow access to much more of the planet's surface by enabling landings at higher-altitude sites. AFP PHOTO/Frederic J. BROWN (Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN / AFP) (Photo credit should read FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)