NASA has always taken great care when it comes to touching down on Mars, relying on parachutes, airbags, and even jetpacks to ensure their spacecraft safely reach the surface. This method has worked for them nine times in the past. But now, an experimental lander is looking to try a more hard-hitting approach.
Instead of slowing the craft’s descent, SHIELD — which stands for Simplified High Impact Energy Landing Device — would act like the crumple zone of a car, absorbing much of the energy of a hard impact. This method would work thanks to SHIELD's accordion-like, collapsible base.
SHIELD, seen here, would use a collapsible base to absorb most of the energy of a hard impact. (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)
NASA/JPL-Caltech
The concept for SHIELD originated during planning for NASA’s Mars Sample Return campaign. Since the Perseverance rover landed on Mars in February 2021, it has been busy collecting rock samples ...
