Parachute system ASPIRE that you want to use for the Mars 2020 mission, successfully passed the first test. Supersonic “space parachute” developed by engineers at the American space Agency in order to in the future to help the lander without negative consequences to sit on the surface of Mars.
Technical head of the project said that work on the landing system are on schedule and so far everything is going well. Now during testing it turned out to open the parachute at the correct altitude and speed. In addition, the testing managed to capture on video.
To see your parachute in action, NASA launched a small rocket Black Brant IX, the length of which is only 18 meters. Aboard the rocket was a cargo parachute, data acquisition sensors, camera and system deployment. After 40 seconds after launch, the parachute opened at a height of 42 kilometers. The landing of the goods took place after 35 minutes, fifty kilometers from the launch pad of the Baikonur wallops, located in Virginia.
ASPIRE next test is scheduled for February 2018. To test, time is not so much, after all, the Mars 2020 mission is scheduled to begin in summer 2020.
NASA tested the Mars supersonic parachute
Vyacheslav Larionov