Artists impression of ESAs ExoMars rover (foreground) and Russias science platform (background) on Mars. Credit: ESA/ATG medialab
The biggest parachute set to fly on Mars has finished its first successful high-altitude drop test, a crucial turning point for making sure the ExoMars objective is on track for launch in 2022. Both the 2nd and first stage parachutes have actually now effectively flown this year.
A pair of high-altitude drop tests occurred in Oregon on November 21 and December 3 as part of the continuous parachute testing to make sure the safe shipment of the ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover and Kazachok lander to the surface of Mars in June 2023. The 35 m large subsonic parachute– the largest ever to fly on Mars– was the focus of the current project. One parachute was produced by European business Arescosmo, with the back-up provided by US-based Airborne Systems.
” Both parachutes deployed and flew perfectly,” says Thierry Blancquaert, ESA Exomars program group leader. “We optimized the lessons learned from all previous tests and with this double success following the impressive very first stage parachute release previously this year, were actually on the roadway to launch. We have actually demonstrated we have 2 parachutes to fly to Mars.”
A pair of high-altitude drop tests took location in Oregon on November 21 and December 3 as part of the ongoing parachute screening to guarantee the safe delivery of the ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover and Kazachok lander to the surface of Mars in June 2023. The 15 m-wide very first phase primary parachute opens while the descent module is still traveling at supersonic speeds, and the 35 m-wide second phase primary parachute is deployed at subsonic speeds.
“After recuperating the parachutes we observed just a handful of very tiny and insignificant 1-2 cm sized tears and friction scorching on the 2 parachute canopies. All parachute system certification activities are managed and carried out by a joint group involving the ESA task (supported by the Directorate of Technology, Engineering and Quality), Thales Alenia Space Italy (ExoMars prime professional, in Turin), Thales Alenia Space France (parachute system lead, in Cannes), Vorticity in the UK (Parachute style and test analysis, in Oxford) and Arescosmo in Italy (parachute and bags manufacturing, in Aprilia). The extraction tests are supported through an engineering assistance contract with Airborne Systems, who likewise offered NASAs Mars 2020 parachutes, and by Free Flight Enterprises for the provision of parachute folding and packaging facilities.
The group will continue to test to verify the toughness of the last selection of parachutes, with more high altitude drop test opportunities possible in 2022 for both the second and very first phase parachute. It is expected to fly the first stage parachute from Airborne Systems, and the 2nd phase parachute by Arescosmo to Mars, pending the outcome of the March 2022 test campaign.
The ESA-Roscosmos ExoMars objective is set up for launch in September 2022. After an almost nine-month interplanetary cruise, a descent module containing the rover and platform will be launched into the Martian environment at a speed of 21 000 km per hour. Slowing down requires a thermal guard, 2 primary parachutes– each with its own pilot chute for extraction– and a retro rocket propulsion system set off 30 seconds prior to touchdown. The 15 m-wide first phase primary parachute opens while the descent module is still traveling at supersonic speeds, and the 35 m-wide second phase main parachute is deployed at subsonic speeds.
Adjusting and checking the ExoMars parachutes has been a top priority following a series of unsuccessful drop tests in 2019 and 2020. The first high elevation success took location in June 2021 with the flawless implementation of the first main parachute provided by Airborne Systems.
The ExoMars parachute release sequence that will deliver a surface platform and rover to the surface of Mars in 2023 (following launch in 2022). The graphic highlights the primary events concerning the parachutes, a series that is started after significant slowing of the 3.8 m-wide entry module in the atmosphere with the aeroshells heatshields.
In that set of tests, the 35 m-wide 2nd phase parachute provided by Arescosmo experienced one small damage, likely due to an unanticipated detachment of the pilot chute throughout last inflation, but it still decelerated the drop test automobile as anticipated. In the stepping in months the pilot chute attachment was altered, and Kevlar reinforcements were changed with nylon on two rings in the parachute canopy to much better match the same strength and flexibility of the parachute fabric, in order to reduce the risk of tearing.
Changes to the parachute system are very first evaluated on the dynamic extraction test rig at NASA/JPL to check how the release of the parachute from the bag happens, as it would occur in the martian atmosphere. These tests can be duplicated on a fast turn-around and reduce the danger of anomalies.
High-altitude drop tests require complicated logistics and stringent weather, making them hard to schedule, and are frequently aborted at the last minute if the circumstance modifications. The wind speed and direction at various elevations has to be thought about for a smooth climb of the balloon and the on-ground recovery of the hardware considered that the drop zone can only be accessed through helicopter, and should not fall over populated locations. There need to also be no rain, clouds or fog, and the humidity should be such that condensation does not accumulate on the big envelope of the 335 000 m3 balloon as this would trigger a big quantity of water to fall on the drop test car and its electronic devices.
When these requirements have been met and the thumbs-up offered to pump up and introduce the helium-filled stratospheric balloon, the drop test automobile is lofted to an elevation of 29 km. Following release from the balloon, the pilot chute implementation is initiated, which in turn pulls the main parachute from its doughnut bag.
” Everyone working on this project– both on website and off– had to wait a long period of time in this launch window for the right climate condition, but we are pleased with the result,” states Thierry. “After recuperating the parachutes we observed only a handful of very small and insignificant 1-2 cm sized tears and friction searing on the two parachute canopies. We can certainly fly as-is without any issue, but adjustments are still possible, and we will carefully inspect the outcomes of the next tests early next year.”
The spacecraft consists of the carrier module (the eight sided structure), the descent module (the white module in the center) and the Rosalind Franklin rover and Kazachok surface area platform, which are encapsulated inside the descent module. This image was captured throughout a dynamic balancing test of the real flight modules that will fly to Mars– an activity to ensure the spacecraft is completely balanced when spinning in space.
The parachutes are simply one aspect of this complex mission, which, after launch, will see a carrier module transport the rover and surface platform to Mars inside a descent module. Significant development has actually been made throughout lots of locations of the objective in the last months, as the practical screening phase draws to a close and attention shifts to the launch project in Baikonur.
” Thanks to the amazing efforts of all our partners, we are finishing up loose ends in this highly complicated objective to guarantee we have a robust mission to fly to Mars,” adds Thierry. “In parallel, launch campaign preparations are proceeding at full steam and were eagerly anticipating deliver the spacecraft modules and ground support devices to Baikonur in late March and early April. An amazing year is to come.”
All parachute system qualification activities are handled and carried out by a joint group involving the ESA project (supported by the Directorate of Technology, Engineering and Quality), Thales Alenia Space Italy (ExoMars prime specialist, in Turin), Thales Alenia Space France (parachute system lead, in Cannes), Vorticity in the UK (Parachute style and test analysis, in Oxford) and Arescosmo in Italy (parachute and bags manufacturing, in Aprilia). NASA/JPL-Caltech has supplied engineering consultancy, access to the dynamic extraction test facility, and on-site assistance throughout these tests. The extraction tests are supported through an engineering assistance agreement with Airborne Systems, who also supplied NASAs Mars 2020 parachutes, and by Free Flight Enterprises for the provision of parachute folding and packaging facilities. Airborne Systems is also supplying parachute style and manufacturing services since 2021.
Near Space Corporation provide the balloon launch services in Oregon. The Swedish Space Corporation Esrange center offers the balloon launch services in Kiruna.
The ExoMars mission will release on a Proton-M rocket with a Breeze-M upper phase from Baikonur, Kazakhstan, in the September 20– October 1, 2022 launch window. When landed safely in the Oxia Planum area of Mars on 10 June 2023, the rover will drive off the surface platform, looking for out geologically interesting sites to drill below the surface, to figure out if life ever existed on our next-door neighbor world. The ExoMars program, a joint undertaking between ESA and Roscosmos, also consists of the Trace Gas Orbiter, which has been orbiting Mars given that 2016. As its own science objective, Trace Gas Orbiter will offer necessary data relay services for the surface objective; it is already providing information relay support for NASAs surface missions, including the arrival of the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover in February 2021.