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Slow motion footage of ExoMars parachute during a high-altitude drop test. The video shows the 15 m-wide first stage main parachute being deployed flawlessly at supersonic speeds during a drop test on 24 June at the Swedish Space Corporation Esrange facility.<\/p>\n
After several weeks of bad weather and strong winds, the latest pair of high-altitude drop tests of the ExoMars parachutes took place in Kiruna, Sweden.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Each high altitude drop test saw a dummy descent module lofted to an altitude of 29 km by a stratospheric balloon inflated with helium. Following release, the pilot chute extraction initiates with a controlled extraction of the main parachute from the doughnut bag.<\/p>\n
The first test focused on validating the Airborne Systems backup supersonic parachute \u2013 the first drop test for this parachute in this ExoMars test campaign.<\/p>\n
These tests took place after several weeks of bad weather in Kiruna, and follow the high-altitude drop tests in 2019, during which critical damage to both parachute canopies was observed.<\/p>\n
The ESA-Roscosmos ExoMars mission, with the Rosalind Franklin rover and Kazachok surface platform, is scheduled for launch in September 2022. After a nine-month interplanetary cruise, a descent module containing the rover and platform will be released into the martian atmosphere at a speed of 21 000 km per hour.<\/p>\n
Slowing down requires a thermal shield,\u00a0two main parachutes<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 each with its own pilot chute for extraction \u2013 and a retro rocket propulsion system triggered 20 seconds before touchdown. The 15m-wide first stage main parachute opens while the descent module is still travelling at supersonic speeds, and the 35 m-wide second stage main parachute is deployed at subsonic speeds.<\/p>\n