NASA's LOFTID mission plunges back to Earth and splashes down in the Pacific Ocean

NASA has officially launched two different objects into orbit, with one plunging back down into the Pacific Ocean in a mission with a long-term vision to help humans one day land safely on Mars. LOFTID is a 20 ft diameter blow-up heat shield, dubbed the Low Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Deceletator mission, which was transported into orbit by the United Launch Alliance and later came plummeting back down to Earth, splashing down in the Pacific Ocean as part of the crucial test. The U Atlas V 401 has already blasted off from the Space Launch Complex-3 at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California and also took the JPSS-2, a new generation polar-orbiting environmental satellite system, up into the cosmos.

The JPSS-2 is considered the primary mission on today's launch, with LOFTID being the secondary launch. The JPSS-2 is the third satellite in the Joint Polar Satellite System series and is set to scan the Earth as it orbits the globe from the North to the South Pole to give a clearer picture of the planet's weather and climate. 

Despite a technical issue threatening the delay of the launch involving 'booster locks' - this was swiftly resolved, anomaly Chief Dave McFarland from United Launch Alliance announced, with all checks completed before the first list off.  

Operators were given the thumbs up for the JP22-2/LOFTID mission to begin preparations, with the rocket later fully tanked and ready for lift-off. All operators then gave the go-ahead, meaning "green across the board" as both spacecrafts got configured for launch.

Before heading into Low-Earth orbit, the launch team made the final steps in the countdown procedure. The rocket then blasted off successfully, and made its way up into space.

Five minutes into the flight, the rocket saw successful completion of the first stage of the launch as the booster detached from the rocket and started falling away. 

While the rocket blasted off from California, NASA’s Launch Services Program, based at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, is managing the launch service.

From space to our supermarkets

Irene Parker, Deputy Systems Administrator Systems at Nesdis has said that the information from JPSS-2 satellite systems allows scientists to predicts droughts and helps them predict the greenness of crops. 

She explained: "That information goes into the Vegetation Health Index, and that helps people determine how much food supply the harvest is actually going to produce this year. Based off of that, that determines what the price of apples, lettuce etc is actually costing at the grocery store."

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NASA and NOAA partner in the development, launch, testing, and operation of all satellites in the JPSS series. NASA develops and builds the instruments, spacecraft, and ground system, as well as launches the satellites for NOAA, while NOAA operates the satellites.

Meanwhile LOFITD, which looks similar to a UFO, is designed to act as a giant brake during atmospheric re-entry, converting kinetic energy into heat and slowing its descent. The successful test means heat shields of various sizes could be used to help craft touch down onto extra-terrestrial worlds like Mars, Titan and Venus. It could also help to recover parts of launch vehicles on Earth to make access to space cheaper as rockets could be reused.

JPSS-2 has now been deployed into space as in communicating with ground stations. The JPSS-2 is reportedly very happy about this, as officials "anxiously" awaited the official start of the LOFTID demonstration with the turning on of the re-entry vehicle. 

LOFTID was taken into a lower altitude to complete its re-entry, and came splashing down along with an electronic data recorder as was planned.

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NASA explained: “For destinations with an atmosphere, one of the challenges NASA faces is how to deliver heavy payloads — experiments, equipment and people. When a spacecraft enters an atmosphere, aerodynamic forces act upon it. Specifically, aerodynamic drag helps to slow it down, converting its kinetic energy into heat.

“Utilising atmospheric drag is the most mass-efficient method to slow down a spacecraft. The atmosphere of Mars is much less dense than that of Earth and provides an extreme challenge for aerodynamic deceleration. The atmosphere is thick enough to provide some drag, but too thin to decelerate the spacecraft as quickly as it would in Earth’s atmosphere.”

This is a breaking story. More to follow.