NFAC MSL parachute.mpg

Shown here is NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) parachute being tested at AEDC's National Full-Scale Aerodynamics Complex 80-foot by 120-foot wind tunnel at NASA Ames in California. This is the largest wind tunnel in the world and is primarily used for full-scale rotorcraft and parachute testing.

The parachute, which will be used to slow the MSL as it lands on Mars, holds more air than a 3,000-square-foot house and is designed to survive loads in excess of 36,000 kilograms (80,000 pounds). The parachute, built by Pioneer Aerospace, South Windsor, Conn., has 80 suspension lines, measures more than 65 feet in length, and opens to a diameter of nearly 55 feet. It is the largest disk-gap-band parachute ever built. The parachute is attached to a launch arm mounted on a swivel-base that allows the test item to pitch and yaw under simulated conditions of subsonic entry into the Martian atmosphere.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• NFAC
• MSL
• Mars Science Laboratory

[wwarmbrodt]

Amazing. Watching on Earth what will happen in the outer reaches of the Martian atmosphere. May the Mars Science Laboratory deployment itself be as successful.