The European Space Agency (ESA) has reported that the first successful high-altitude drop tests for the braking parachutes for the joint ESA/Roscosmos ExoMars probe have taken place. The ExoMars mission is scheduled for launch in September 2022 and will be composed of ESA’s Rosalind Franklin rover and Russian space agency Roscosmos’ Kazachok lander, which will not only transport the Rosalind Franklin to the surface of Mars but then also function as a scientific platform in its own right. The parachutes are an essential part of the ExoMars braking and landing system. After travelling nine months through space, the descent module containing the rover and the lander will be released by the ‘cruise stage’ which carried it from Earth, and enter the Martian atmosphere at a speed of 21 000 km/h. Initial deceleration will be by the resistance of the Martian atmosphere itself, with the descent module protected from the concomitant heating by a thermal shield.
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