February 23, 2006

	Sample Capture Validation Test. (Click here to launch movie.)

The Mars Technology Program (NASA/JPL) has successfully tested a capture cone prototype aboard the NASA C-9 "weightless wonder" aircraft. The test employed a fully instrumented capture cone prototype and an orbiting sample canister (OS) to collect data on capture dynamics in a zero-g environment. This test served also as a pathfinder for future capture cone validation programs.