NASA tests 7,000 pound 'flying saucer' for landings on Mars

PASADENA, Calif. (KGO) -- NASA is putting its very own "flying saucer" to the test. The space agency released a video of its Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator undergoing a spin test at its lab in Pasadena.

The 15-foot-wide, 7,000 pound craft could be key when NASA is ready to send humans to Mars.

Spinning an object keeps it pointed in one direction, and an attached rocket can slow the saucer down.

That means it could someday help slow down a spacecraft enough to make a safe landing on the Red Planet.

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