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Next year, the European Space Agency (ESA) will send to ExoMars 2020 mission on the red planet. This mission consists of a rover built by ESA (Rosalind Franklin) and a scientific surface platform led by Russia (Kazachok) who will study the Martian environment in order to characterize its surface, its atmosphere and to determine if life could have existed on the planet or not.
In anticipation of this mission, the engineers put the rover and the lander to the test. This includes the ongoing development of the mission's parachute system, which is currently being serviced after a failed deployment test earlier this month. These efforts are taking place at the Swedish Space Corporation's Esrange test site and concern the largest parachute ever used by a Mars mission.
Once the rover and the lander are ready, they will be placed in a descent module that will be routed to Mars by a carrier module (which will be launched from Baikonour on top of a Proton Russian rocket). Once in the atmosphere of Mars, the descent module will rely on two parachutes (each with its own extraction chute) to slow down until the braking motors can engage.
This whole sequence takes only six minutes and is absolutely necessary for the mission to make a soft landing. To make sure everything is in order, several parachute tests were carried out on the SSC site in Esrange. The first took place last year and demonstrated the deployment and inflation of the main parachute 35 meters (115 feet) of the descent module from an altitude of 1.2 km (0.75 mi ).
In May, the four parachutes underwent a deployment test at an altitude of 29 km (18 mi), where they were dropped from a stratospheric helium balloon. Although the deployment mechanisms activated correctly and the complete sequence was completed, both wings of the main parachutes were damaged. Inspections were made and adaptations were made to the design of parachutes and bags.
What followed was another high altitude test, involving only the largest 35m parachute, which took place a few weeks ago (Monday, August 5th). Once again, although a preliminary assessment showed that the initial stages had been successfully completed, the sails had been damaged in the same way prior to inflation, forcing the test module to descend under the drag of the slide driver only.
François Spoto, head of ESA's ExoMars mission, said:
"It is disappointing that the precautionary design adaptations introduced as a result of the anomalies of the last test did not help us to pass the second test, but, as always, we remain focused and work to understand and correct the flaw before we can launch next year. "
Currently, mission teams are evaluating all equipment, videos and telemetry recorded in the hope of finding the root cause of the anomaly. The analysis of the data by the team will indicate the modifications and adaptations that may be necessary for the parachute system to be operational before the next tests.
Except in case of serious problems, this test should take place before the end of the year, while the next attempt to qualify the second main parachute is planned for the beginning of 2020. At the same time, teams are planning to create new test models and perform ground tests. based simulations that will recreate the dynamics of high altitude fall tests.
This will help you eliminate bugs before real tests, for which opportunities are rather scarce. In addition, specialists from NASA and ESA will meet next month to share information and address mission concerns. As Spoto explained:
"Arriving on Mars and in particular landing on Mars is very difficult. We are committed to using a system capable of safely delivering our payload to the surface of Mars in order to carry out its unique scientific mission. "
The rover and the lander are nearing completion, with the last of them soon to launch its environmental testing campaign at Airbus Toulouse in Cannes, France. Similarly, the flight operator module, consisting of the descent module and the landing gear platform, will begin its latest series of tests at Thales Alenia Space in Cannes, France.
Unless there are delays, the rover and spacecraft will be integrated early next year. The launch of the mission is currently scheduled during the window from 25 July to 13 August 2020. Once on Mars, the Rosalind Franklin rover and the Kazachok The lander will join a group of robotic missions looking for clues to Mars' past.
Further reading: ESA
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