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Once the European Space Agency’s (ESA) ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover reaches Mars, a dramatic 6-minute sequence will see a “descent module” – carrying the rover – deploy two parachutes to quickly slow it down before it lands on the surface. Martian.
Atmospheric drag will slow the module from around 21,000 km / h to 1,700 km / h, at which point the first parachute will be deployed. About 20 seconds later, at around 400 km / h, the second parachute will open. When the module is 1 kilometer above the ground, the brake motors engage and transport it safely to the surface of Mars.
The complete parachute descent system requires testing and verification on Earth, which can only be performed through high-altitude drop tests that replicate the low atmospheric pressure conditions on Mars. The test – which had been delayed since March due to COVID, wind and bush fires – took place in Oregon, United States, on November 9, with a drop test vehicle raised to a height of 29 km in a stratospheric balloon.
The parachute extraction and deceleration proceeded as planned by the mission scientists, with the test vehicle landing safely and the parachutes recovered. There was a small “wing damage” on the two parachutes, which occurred at the start of inflation.
Rosalind Franklin – a joint Europe and Russia mission – will try to detect life, past or present, on the Red Planet and is scheduled for launch in 2022. The completion of the parachute test marks a key milestone for the rover, which has been built in Airbus’ Stevenage and the team will now analyze test data to determine further improvements for upcoming tests.
Sue Horne, head of space exploration, said:
Mars has been the subject of our fascination and speculation throughout recorded history, but we know that missions to the Red Planet are not easy.
A total of 20 probes, from countries and agencies around the world, have had their share of accidents on the journey to the Red Planet. They crashed on takeoff, crashed on landing, lost power.
Parachute tests are critical to help us get the technology exactly right and make sure the Rosalind Franklin Rover takes off with the most advanced and reliable equipment possible.
The pilot chute for the first distribution of the main chute (ESA)
After failed tests of the parachute last year, the first main parachute had an updated parachute bag and Kevlar reinforcement around the vent rim, which is the natural vent hole in the center of the parachute. The second main parachute had several reinforcement rings and an improved parachute bag, but not the reinforced parachute lines, which were also provided.
Once safely in the Mars region of Oxia Planum in June 2023, the Rosalind Franklin rover will leave the platform and begin its scientific mission. It will look for geologically interesting sites to drill beneath the surface to determine if life ever existed on our neighboring planet.
The British company Vorticity Ltd is a technical consultant for the parachute system and is responsible for the high-altitude drop tests of the parachutes. Vorticity designed and manufactured the parachute test vehicles and then performed the test together with its US subcontractor, Near Space Corporation.
John Underwood, Principal Engineer of Vorticity, said:
This is an extremely demanding program involving the development of the largest parachute ever sent to Mars. Huge improvements have been made to the system since last year’s testing and we are confident that the latest issues will be fixed before the mission launches in 2022.
Vorticity is a privately owned UK SME operating as a center of excellence for aerospace systems engineering consultancy and space systems development.
ExoMars team leader Francois Spoto said:
Landing on Mars is extremely difficult, with no possibility of error. The last test was a good step forward but it is still not the perfect result we are looking for. Therefore, we will use the extensive test data we have acquired to refine our approach, plan further tests and stay on track for our launch in September 2022.
In July of this year, NASA launched its Perseverance mission, opening a runway ahead of the launch of the UK-built Rosalind Franklin rover. Perseverance has several scientific goals for its mission and is bringing tools geared towards researching the carbon building blocks of life and other microbes and to reconstruct the geological history of the Red Planet.
The idea is that by investigating the presence and history of water on Mars we can begin to consider the question of whether or not life existed there; which in turn would provide powerful evidence of the likelihood that life exists elsewhere in the Universe.
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