[brownbat]

Description: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/tdm/ldsd/

Seems to be trying to figure out how to save fuel by relying on atmospheric drag to rapidly decelerate on descent to, say, Mars with extremely heavy payloads.

News conference: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/48346813

"Current technology for decelerating from the high speed of atmospheric entry to the final stages of landing on Mars dates back to NASA's Viking Program, which put two landers on Mars in 1976. The basic Viking parachute design has been used ever since -- and was successfully used again in 2012 to deliver the Curiosity rover to Mars."

Viking program: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viking_program