A weekend rocket launch from Wallops Flight Facility successfully tested a parachute that may one day be deployed on Mars.
Lift off occurred at 12:19 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.
It originally had been scheduled for March 27th but was delayed without explanation.
The Salisbury Daily Times reports that the payload was expected to reach 32 miles above the earth and to stay in flight for around 2 minutes.
It contained a test parachute that included instrumentation such as cameras to record the data.
The parachute would slow a spacecraft a Mars rover with a landing speed of more than 12-thousand miles per hour.
In October Wallops launched a previously successful flight.
A Mars mission is set for July of 2020 from Cape Canaveral Florida.
