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Exomar parachutes ready deployed mars:
21/07/2025 8 views 0 likes
The most complex parachute system ever envisaged for Mars has successfully slowed down a model of the Exomars landing platform. Meanwhile, allowing it to sit gently on earth.
A stratospheric ball swollen with helium has raised a dummy descent module from Exomars. Similarly, released it over the Arctic Circle nearly 30 km altitude, triggering the deployment of two large parachutes stored in donut-shaped bags. However,
“We are pleased to confirm that the design of our parachute can work on Mars – this is an ambitious system. Nevertheless, with the largest parachute having ever stolen from elsewhere than on earth,” said Luca Ferracina, system engineer of the ESA Exomars Entry and landing module.
This high -altitude dropping test campaign took place at the Esrange space center in the Swedish Space Corporation in Kiruna. Consequently, in northern Sweden on July 7.
Test on earth an landing on Mars – Exomar parachutes ready deployed mars
In order to simulate the combination of density. For example, speed that the capsule will know during its diving in the fine Martian atmosphere, or about 1 % of the density of the terrestrial atmosphere at sea level, the ball had to fly very high.
The parachutes of Exomars have dropped from an altitude of 29 km. However, about three times the altitude at which commercial aircraft steal.
The dummy capsule carried out about 20 seconds of free fall. Similarly, almost reaching the speed of the sound, before exomar parachutes ready deployed mars deploying the parachutes.
“The combination of speed. Consequently, low atmospheric density in this test is exactly the same as that which the parachutes will face on Mars. Testing on earth is a way to gain confidence and confirm that all the elements work as expected,” explains Luca.
High altitude fall tests require complex logistics and strict weather conditions for flight safety. The unique installations of Esrange. its long legacy of missions of stratospheric balloons, since the early 1970s, have made it a conducive place for this campaign.
Two are better than – Exomar parachutes ready deployed mars
Landing on Mars is a high -risk business. In just six minutes. from the top of the planet’s ground atmosphere, the descent module must decelerate by 21,000 km/h to guarantee its precious cargo, the Rover Rosalind Franklin, a gentle landing which will allow it to explore the surface.
Braking requires a thermal shield. two main parachutes – each with their own pilot parachute for extraction – and a retrofused propulsion system triggered 20 seconds before touching the Martian surface.
Most of the supersonic speed will decrease due to the aerodynamic trail of the capsule. The most effective way to eliminate the remaining speed for safe landing is a combination of parachutes and retrofuses.
“The use of two parachutes allows us to design a solid. medium -sized parachute to decelerate the probe at supersonic speeds, then a much larger and light parachute for the final descent”, explains John Underwood, main engineer at Vorticity, the British company responsible for the design of the parachutes and the test analysis.
Work in tandem
The main parachute of the first floor has a diameter of 15 m. similar to the type of parachutes designed for the landing of the NASA Viking exomar parachutes ready deployed mars probe in Mars in 1972. For Exomars. the teams use a variant designed for the Cassini-Huygens mission from ESA to Titan, the largest moon of Saturn (Cassini-Huygens mission of ESA). This three -storey parachute system still holds the record for landing furthest from the Earth never attempted.
The main parachute on the second floor measures 35 m in diameter. It consists of a series of rings interspersed with spaces. It is the biggest parachute to fly on Mars or in another place in the solar system than the earth. Composed of more than 800 square meters of fabric. more than four kilometers of rope for the lines, it takes about three days to fold it in its bag.
The meticulous folding of each parachute in its bag is essential exomar parachutes ready deployed mars to guarantee a correct deployment.
Storage. design challenges
The parachute system tested in Sweden was qualified to fly to March in 2021, but it was stored when the mission was interrupted due to the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.
“We are carrying out this campaign to confirm that we are ready for March. to verify that the parachutes still work as planned after a long storage,” explains Luca.
The parachutes are made from a very light fabric whose density is approximately 40 grams per square meter. about half that of a sheet of paper.
A parachute expertise that raises Europe
Telemetry data have been transmitted in real time during the release. and the Vorticity team will now analyze them with high -speed video sequences to assess the deceleration profile exomar parachutes ready deployed mars and inflation models.
“Earth tests have the advantage of allowing us to get much more data. recover the parachutes to inspect them after the test,” said John.
Most of the parachute system has been designed. manufactured in Europe, with components from the Netherlands (deployment mortars), Italy (parachutes) and Czechoslovakia (the parachute container). Thales Alenia Space in France supervised the test campaign as manager of the parachute assembly system.
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