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ExoMars Rover Parachutes Tested Horizontally, High-Altitude Drop Coming Next

When it comes to Mars and the human activities taking place there, the talk of the day is the Perseverance rover and the Ingenuity helicopter. But as we as a species are getting ready to visit the planet first-hand in the near future, activity on Mars is bound to increase in the coming years.
ExoMars rover parachute testing in California 1 photo
Photo: ESA
Next up on the list of hardware to be sent to the Red Planet is the ExoMars rover, a.k.a. Rosalind Franklin. Initially planned for launch in 2020, the mission was pushed to 2022, with a planned arrival on Mars one year later.

To be able to meet the new deadline, the European Space Agency is hard at work testing all the pieces of technology that will allow the machine to launch, travel and land safely at its destination. These days, the focus is on the parachutes meant to slow the thing down when it gets there.

After a series of failed attempts, the agency is now testing a new design at the NASA ground-based high-speed extraction facility in California. That means the parachute is pulled horizontally along a suspended cable at high speed to test its deployment (check the video below to see how that works).

The success of the last few tests makes ESA confident a high-altitude drop should come next. The operation is scheduled to take place in Kiruna, Sweden, at the beginning of next month and will call for the parachute to be released from under a stratospheric balloon from an altitude of 29 km (18 miles).

When the ExoMars rover arrives on Mars, it will need two parachutes to land safely. The first stage is a 15-meter (49-ft) wide piece that will open while the lander still travels at supersonic speeds, and the second stage is a much larger, 35-meter (114-ft) contraption, the one that will actually bring the lander down to the surface safely.

The Rosalind Franklin will be the first rover to be sent to Mars by the European Space Agency. It will be powered by solar panels and will use an incipient artificial intelligence in the search for signs of ancient life.

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About the author: Daniel Patrascu
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Daniel loves writing (or so he claims), and he uses this skill to offer readers a "behind the scenes" look at the automotive industry. He also enjoys talking about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies.
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