NASA HIAD vs Mars Info Lite

A giant cone of inner tubes stacked together may someday help cargo, or even people, land on another planet or return to Earth. NASA calls the spacecraft technology HIAD - Hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator. Learn the challenges NASA faces as it works to develop an inflatable spacecraft. Choose the right shape, materials and trajectory to use a HIAD to bring cargo back from space. To successfully guide an inflatable spacecraft through the super heat of atmospheric re-entry 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. Try your hand at landing a HIAD and become a rocket scientist. Advance through all stages at each of the four levels, collecting up to three stars for each successful landing. The HIAD game challenges players to successfully land a HIAD after launching from the International Space Station and arriving at a target ground point on Earth. To successfully reach the target, players must: •Undock from the ISS and use thruster control to steer the spacecraft towards the desired de-orbit point •Inflate the HIAD aeroshell to reduce velocity and protect the payload from the heat of atmospheric re-entry •Steer the inflated HIAD to the ground target prior to parachute deployment, taking into account the prevailing winds •Customize the HIAD vehicle to achieve different performance characteristics to improve results FEATURES •Multiple spacecraft configurations and options •Speed and trajectory controls •In-game introduction •Four levels of engineering mastery •Locked levels •Scoring for each level •Help section •Links to related website

Explore Mars using simple gestures to rotate a globe, tilt, zoom and select locations. Credits - Viking Orbiter MDIM 2.1 map of Mars - NASA NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio: GMM-3 MOLA (Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter) Topography map GMM-3 Free-Air Mars Gravity map GMM-3 Bouguer Mars Gravity map GMM-3 Crustal Mars Thickness map Features: - Ability to pinpoint about 80 the most interesting areas on the map of Mars, including volcanos, craters, plains, mountains, spacecrafts. - Displaying some information about the location, such as its name, type, short description, size and coordinates. - Ability to select locations on the 3D globe and on the plain list. - Zoom, rotation, tilt of the globe. Lite version is limited to display 7 locations for each category, i.e. you will see 42 places vs 80 (currently) in a full version.