Ron Sostaric talkMARS: “Human Mars Landing: Better Bring a Really Big Parachute!”

Ron Sostaric talks about the difficulties with the entry, descent, and landing of the massive vehicles that would land humans on Mars.
Sostaric is an entry, descent, and landing systems expert for the Aeroscience and Flight Mechanics Division at NASA Johnson Space Center. He has contributed to a number of projects, including the X-38 Crew Return Vehicle, the Autonomous Landing and Hazard Avoidance Technology (ALHAT), Morpheus, the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), and the Terrestrial Return Vehicle (TRV).
Johnson Space Center’s talkMARS presentations do not follow the model of a typical technical briefing. These talks focus more on the “why” of a human mission to Mars and translate complicated technologies and ideas in an easy-to-understand format.