SpaceX Ponders Hypersonic Decelerator For Second-stage Recovery
Jun 8, 2018
http://aviationweek.com/space/spacex...c-decelerator-
second-stage-recovery

The article also mentions (in an image tag):

NASA plans to test a 6-m-dia. inflatable decelerator under the
Loftid program.

The vehicle behind the decelerator looks suspiciously like a pressurized
module from a Cygnus (minus all the other bits). Following the image is
a slightly longer description:

Research activity into the use of HIAD-like aeroshell technology
is meanwhile stepping up at NASA. In March, NASA Langley Research
Center and Marshall Space Flight Center issued a request for
information (RFI) related to their Low Earth Orbit Flight Test of
an Inflatable Decelerator (Loftid) Ancillary Gas Generator effort
to support access to Mars. The request, which called for
responses by mid-April, stated that in addition to permitting
high-mass deliveries to Mars, the 6-m.-dia. system could be used
for bringing down mass from the International Space Station
(ISS), as well as helping to lower the cost of access to space
"through launch vehicle asset recovery."

This 6 meter diameter system looks a bit small for trying to recover a
Falcon 9 2nd stage. Still, this is the sort of R&D that NASA ought to
be doing. It's a relatively low cost program that could have many
applications, especially if it scales up to even bigger sizes.

Jeff
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