Humongous parachute for European Mars landing mission tested successfully

The European Space Agency (ESA) conducted a successful parachute test for the ExoMars Mars landing rover earlier this month, even as uncertainty looms over US involvement in the project. The parachutes, which are designed to slow the descent of the ExoMars lander, have caused more than a few headaches for the development team …

[beast666]

Young children make parachutes to land their toy cars yeeted out of bedroom windows.

[Anonymous Coward]

How's your Musk AI request coming[sic], beast666?

[John Brown (no body)]

So? What's that go to do with the price of fish?

[Phil O'Sophical]

as it turned out, the parachutes didn't hold things up

Well, that's your problem right there...

[Bill Gray]

Oh, chute! That is a drag...

[RegGuy1]

In the video ...

... he says we take it up to 30km and then drop it in an area that is pretty much uninhabited.

I would hope it is totally uninhabited.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: In the video ...

Scientists never rule anything out completely.

[Anonymous Coward]

Interestingly, this test is increasing the capabilities of Europe, as a side effect of a ride share with a US rover* being cancelled.

*Exomars is a mini-rover, and the US rover weighed more than a Rover Mini. - Launch was originally supposed to happen in 2018...!

[vtcodger]

Elon to the rescue?

The thought that comes to mind is how do they keep that huge expanse of (for want of a better word) "cloth" from ending up draped over the payload? It's not like there's likely to be anyone around to pull it off. Perhaps Mr Musk as the first settler on Mars can be hired to let the trapped rover out.