New NASA Space Technology App Educates Users at Hypersonic Speeds

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Sept. 05, 2012

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

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


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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