NASA will launch a giant inflatable heat shield into space like a flying saucer next month

At first glance, these images could be mistaken for stills from the latest sci-fi blockbuster.

But the flying saucer-like object pictured in the images is very real — and is due to be launched into space by NASA next month.

The Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID) is scheduled for November 1 and will launch a giant heat shield into low Earth orbit.

Once there, it inflates before returning to Earth.

NASA hopes the test will show how the inflatable heat shield can slow a spacecraft enough to survive entry into the atmosphere.

If successful, the technology could one day allow humans to land safely on Mars.

But the flying saucer-like object pictured in the images is very real — and is due to be launched into space by NASA next month

When it comes to targets with atmospheres – including Mars, Venus, Titan and Earth – one of NASA’s biggest challenges is how to transport heavy payloads.

Current rigid aeroshells are limited by the size of a missile casing – its streamlined protective envelope.

For example, you might remember the “seven minutes of terror” when NASA’s Perseverance rover parachuted down to the surface of Mars last year.

Radio signals sent by NASA and vice versa take 10 minutes for both parties to make contact. After the ground team instructed Perseverance to descend, the rover took over and made the epic journey entirely on its own.

The spacecraft shot through the Martian atmosphere at 12,000 miles per hour, but then had to slow to zero miles per hour seven minutes later to safely land on the surface.

While Perseverance survived the descent unscathed with a simple parachute, the landing procedure is more difficult with larger payloads, such as missiles with people on board.

“One answer is an inflatable aeroshell that can be deployed on a much larger scale than the envelope,” NASA explained.

When it comes to targets with atmospheres – including Mars, Venus, Titan and Earth – one of NASA’s biggest challenges is how to transport heavy payloads

Once JPSS-2 reaches orbit, the heat shield will be inflated and placed on a low Earth orbit reentry orbit to test its ability to slow reentry and survive

“This technology enables a variety of proposed NASA missions to targets such as Mars, Venus, Titan, and return to Earth.”

When a spacecraft enters an atmosphere, drag helps slow it down.

However, Mars’ atmosphere is much less dense than Earth’s, presenting an extreme challenge for aerodynamic lag.

“The atmosphere is thick enough to offer some drag, but too thin to decelerate the spacecraft as quickly as Earth’s atmosphere would,” NASA explained.

Their solution to this problem is a large inflatable heat shield that acts like a giant brake.

The 20-foot-wide heat shield would operate in the upper reaches of the atmosphere, allowing a spacecraft to decelerate early while experiencing less severe heating.

The heat shield will be launched aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, along with a JPSS-2 polar-orbiting weather satellite

If the test is successful, it could prove crucial in helping NASA meet its ambitious goal of bringing humans to the Red Planet in the next decade

On November 1, NASA will demonstrate the technology from low Earth orbit for the first time.

The heat shield will be launched aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, along with a JPSS-2 polar-orbiting weather satellite.

Once JPSS-2 reaches orbit, the heat shield will be inflated and placed on a low Earth orbit reentry orbit to test its ability to slow reentry and survive.

If the test is successful, it could prove crucial in helping NASA meet its ambitious goal of bringing humans to the Red Planet in the next decade.

“This technology could support the landing crew and large robotic missions on Mars and bring heavier payloads back to Earth,” NASA added.

NASA plans to send a manned mission to Mars in the 2030s after the first landing on the moon

Mars has become the next great leap for human space exploration.

But before humans reach the red planet, astronauts will take a series of small steps by returning to the moon for a year-long mission.

Details of the lunar orbit mission were revealed as part of a timeline of events leading up to missions to Mars in the 2030s.

Nasa has outlined its four-stage plan (pictured) that will hopefully one day allow humans to visit Mars at the Humans to Mars Summit held in Washington DC yesterday. This will entail several missions to the moon in the coming decades

In May 2017, Greg Williams, NASA’s associate assistant administrator for policies and plans, outlined the space agency’s four-step plan that it hopes will one day allow humans to visit Mars, and the expected timeline.

phase one and two will involve multiple trips to lunar space to allow for the construction of a habitat that will provide a starting point for the trip.

The final piece of hardware delivered would be the actual Deep Space Transport vehicle that would later be used to ferry a crew to Mars.

And in 2027, a year-long simulation of life on Mars will be conducted.

Phases three and four will begin after 2030 and will include ongoing crew expeditions to the Martian system and surface.