Eric Blood
Papers
2
Total Citations
8
H-Index
2
About
Eric Blood is a leading aerospace engineer specializing in supersonic decelerator technologies for planetary entry, descent, and landing (EDL) systems. His primary research focuses on enabling larger payload deliveries to Mars through innovative inflatable aerodynamic decelerators. Blood’s most significant contribution is his work on the Supersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator for Robotic Missions (SIAD-R), a breakthrough technology that allows spacecraft heavier than the Mars Science Laboratory to safely reach the Martian surface. He led the full-scale suborbital supersonic test flight of the SIAD-R in 2014, a pivotal achievement documented in his highly cited 2015 paper. Blood also played a central role in the Low Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD) project, where he conducted post-flight reconstruction of the first Supersonic Flight Dynamics Test (SFDT-1). That test pushed a vehicle to speeds exceeding Mach 4 and altitudes above 200,000 feet off the coast of Kauai, Hawaii. Though the flight was classified as partially successful, the data collected has been invaluable for future Mars missions. Blood’s work directly addresses one of NASA’s most critical challenges: landing larger, more capable payloads on the Red Planet.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1
- 2LDSD supersonic Flight Dynamics Test 1: Post-flight reconstruction3 citations · 2015