Space, military delivery systems undergo testing

In the space realm, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California conducted the second and third flights of the supersonic parachute system for the Mars 2020 rover mission. A two-stage sounding rocket was launched from Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia and released this parachute over the Atlantic Ocean at an altitude and Mach number to produce conditions relevant to those of a Mars entry. Turning to defense, the US Army Natick Soldier Research, Development, and Engineering Center conducted hundreds of airdrop tests averaging nine lifts and 50 payloads per week every two months this year to include the next generation high altitude self-guided airdrop systems in the 20- to 200-kilogram weight range with technology for vision navigation in a GPS denied/degraded environment and increased accuracy/maneuverability for urban navigation.