New NASA Space Technology App Educates Users at Hypersonic Speeds

Sept. 05, 2012

David Steitz
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1730
david.steitz@nasa.gov

Kathy Barnstorff
Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va.
757-864-9886 / 757-244-8511
kathy.barnstorff@nasa.gov


RELEASE: 12-309

NEW NASA SPACE TECHNOLOGY APP EDUCATES USERS AT HYPERSONIC SPEEDS

WASHINGTON -- Want to try your hand at landing an inflatable
spacecraft? All you need is a smart phone, a computer or a tablet.
NASA has released a new educational computer Web game based on its
Hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator (HIAD) project. The
game can be played on the Internet and Apple and Android mobile
devices.

The application can be downloaded free from those mobile device stores
and on NASA's HIAD website at:

http://www.nasa.gov/hiad

HIAD is an innovative inflatable spacecraft technology NASA is
developing to allow giant cones of inner tubes stacked together to
transport cargo to other planets or bring cargo back from the
International Space Station.

"This game will help introduce new generations to NASA technologies
that may change the way we explore other worlds," said Mary Beth
Wusk, HIAD project manager at NASA's Langley Research Center in
Hampton, Va. "It gives players an idea of some of the engineering
challenges rocket scientists face in designing spacecraft, and does
it in a fun way."

The game's premise is an inflatable heat shield that returns cargo
from the space station to Earth. As the HIAD summary puts it, "to
successfully guide an inflatable spacecraft through the super heat of
atmospheric reentry requires the right stuff. If you inflate too
early, your shape is incorrect or your material isn't strong enough -
you burn up. And if you get all that right and miss the target the
mission is a bust."

The game offers four levels of engineering mastery and gives stars for
each successful landing.

HIAD is more than just a game. It's a real technology being tested in
laboratories and in flight. A prototype HIAD launched July 23 from
NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Virginia's Eastern Shore. The
successful flight test demonstrated that lightweight, yet strong
inflatable structures may become a practical way to help us explore
other worlds.

NASA is developing the technology as part of the Space Technology
Program's Game Changing Development Program. NASA's Space Technology
Program is innovating, developing, testing and flying hardware for
use in future science and exploration missions. NASA's technology
investments provide cutting-edge solutions for our nation's future.

For more information about other NASA programs and projects, visit:


http://www.nasa.gov


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