Parachute test for European-Russian mission to Mars

 

The parachute system of the European-Russian ExoMars-2022 mission has been tested. .

ExoMars-2022 assumes that the European Rosalind Franklin rover will be sent to Mars on the Kazachok lander, for which Roskosmos is responsible. The main task of the mission will be to find traces of life on Mars.

Now the largest parachute system of Mars has been tested in the US state of Oregon. It consists of two parts: a 15-meter first stage parachute, which operates at supersonic speed, and a 35-meter subsonic canopy, which operates as a second stage.

The first successful high-altitude landing tests were conducted in June 2021, when the first stage of the parachute manufactured by Airborne Systems was deployed without any problems. However, the large umbrella made by Arescosmo suffered some damage. Since then, it has been refined, some of the Kevlar reinforcements have been replaced with nylon ones to increase the fabric’s elasticity and reduce the risk of fraying.

The mission is expected to launch in the fall of 2022.