Hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator II (HIAD2)

Benefits to NASA Funded Missions: A Hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator(HIAD) is an entry and descent technology to enhance, and enable, robotic and scientific missions to destinations with atmospheres such as Mars, Venus, Titan, and the gas giants. Due to the flexible softgoods, the aeroshell can be packaged into small volumes, stowed for long durations, and deployed prior to entry at a destination. The aeroshell can be manufactured to accommodate large scale aeroshell, and offers NASA the ability to down mass approximately 20x's higher mass than current rigid aeroshell technology. Benefits to NASA Unfunded & Planned Missions: The technology is a significant increases in down mass capability for NASA, allowing up to 40 metric tons. This technology can also be applied to returning assets to Earth such as launch vehicle asset recovery, International Space Station (ISS) down mass or sample return capsules. Not only is this down mass technology applicable to robotic vehicles, it should also be scalable to crewed missions (Mars entry or Earth return from LEO and beyond). Benefits to Other Government Agencies. Reduced cost for access to space has direct benefit to any other agency utilizing ULA launch services (commercial space access company). Benefits to the Commercial Space Industry: HIAD technology has been identified as a key enabling technology for ULA's SMART Reuse technology. SMART Reuse is a design being developed where the first stage booster engines are recovered and reused. After launch and separation of the second stage and payload, the VULCAN engines are separated from the first stage booster can, a HIAD is then used to decelerate the engines to subsonic conditions where a parafoil is used prior to being air-captured by a heavy mass helicopter (ex. CH47-Chinook/King Air/Skycrane/etc.). ULA intends to utilize HIAD on future missions to reduce launch costs. Benefits to the Nation: Reduced cost on launch vehicles directly impacts nations ability to access space, and is a strategic advantage to enabling future missions.