This past June NASA sent a rocket-powered, saucer-shaped test vehicle 190,000 feet above the Earth, accelerated it to nearly four times the speed of sound, and then deployed two new breakthrough braking technologies destined for future Mars missions.

NASA’s Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD) project launched this first of a planned three experimental flight tests to determine if the balloon-launched saucer could even reach the altitudes and speeds needed to test the new technologies in the first place. On that front, the flight test was a resounding success.

“A good test is one where there are no surprises but a great test is one where you are able to learn new things, and that is certainly what we have in this case,” said Ian Clark, principal investigator for LDSD in a statement. “Our test vehicle performed as advertised. The SIAD and ballute, which extracted the parachute, also performed beyond expectations.”

The two cutting-edge technologies tested were the Supersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator (SIAD) – a large, doughnut-shaped air brake – and the Supersonic Disksail Parachute, the largest supersonic parachute ever flown. The Diskail Parachute has more than double the area of the parachute which delivered the Curiosity rover to the surface of Mars.

While the SIAD deployed successfully during the flight, helping slow the saucer from 3.8 to 2 times the speed of sound, the supersonic parachute was less fortunate, quickly tearing apart as it tried to inflate while moving at approximately 2,500 mph.

Still,NASA investigators called even the parachute portion of the test a success.

“We also got significant insight into the fundamental physics of parachute inflation,” said Clark. “We are literally re-writing the books on high-speed parachute operations, and we are doing it a year ahead of schedule.”