There were mixed results for NASA’s flying saucer when it dropped into the Pacific Ocean on a test mission.

The saucer-shaped vehicle was launched from a balloon on Saturday at an altitude of more than 36 kilometres in an experiment to test if it could eventually deliver astronauts and heavier spacecraft on to Mars.

The 150-million dollar project tested both the vehicle and its giant parachute.

Although the parachute became entangled and did not deploy, NASA still considered the test a success.