Lots of activity at the Esrange test facility
in Kiruna Sweden
last June,
as the ExoMars team prepared for important parachute drop tests.
The team was testing both the stratospheric first stage supersonic parachute
and the second main stage subsonic parachute
of the ExoMars descent vehicle.
Both of which are crucial for ExoMars
to make a successful landing on the Martian surface
on June 10th 2023.
Landing on Mars is always a challenging endeavour,
and all possible parameters are taken into account.
Going on Mars is again quite an adventure,
and it took us quite some time
to select the most appropriate landing site on Mars.
It took us five years, actually,
to find a place that would be both scientifically interesting,
where we potentially could find some traces of past life.
And also, it had to be a safe area for landing.
One of the complexities of landing on Mars
is related to the thin atmosphere.
And therefore,
in order to land safely
and have all the deployment sequence
fitting into the altitude that we have available for breaking,
we had to select a landing site that has an elevation rather low
compared to the average elevation of the surface of Mars.
We have selected Oxia Planum landing site
that is at an elevation of minus 2.8 kilometres.
With that,
that gives us more space for breaking through the atmosphere
in the sequence after the aerodynamic breaking,
the parachute breaking
and the propulsion system breaking
before achieving a soft touchdown on the surface of Mars.
To simulate the extraction forces pulling on the descent vehicle
and on the parachutes during a landing on Mars,
the drop test vehicle is lifted to an altitude of twenty-nine kilometres
with a giant stratospheric balloon.
Once released,
a pilot chute is deployed
to pull out the parachute.
Although both parachutes were tested separately during the drop test
on Mars they will need to be deployed in succession.
The first parachute will need to slow down the descent vehicle from mach 2
down to mach 0.6 in 20 seconds
after which the second main stage parachute will deploy to slow down the vehicle even more
for 2 minutes.
Then the heatshield will be discarded,
and the landing platform will be released for a propulsive breaking phase.
The ExoMars launch window is only 12 days
and it opens on the 20th of September 2022
then the mission will be launched on top of a Proton M rocket
from the Baikonur Cosmodrome.
So the ExoMars Spacecraft composite is composed of a carrier module,
a descent module,
a landing platform
and the rover module.
The carrier module will transport the descent module towards Mars
and is responsible for making all the trajectory correction manoeuvers during the trip.
This trip will last eight and a half months.
Upon arrival towards Mars
we will separate the carrier module from the descent module
about half an hour before the entry into the atmosphere.
The mission contains two scientific elements
designed to address the long-standing question whether life ever existed on Mars.
First there is the Russian build Kazachock surface platform
which will perform measurements of the environment
and geophysics on the surface of Mars.
Secondly, there is the European Mars Rover Rosalind Franklin
which has two sets of cameras that provide stereo vision
to avoid rocks and other obstacles.
Each of its flexible metallic wheels can be driven independently
and when the wheels get stuck
it can revert to wheel walking to get back on solid terrain.
The rover can navigate independently
and travel up to 100 metres per Martian day.
Its 2-metre drill can extract samples for analysis in the onboard laboratory
to search for clues for life.
With the surface of Mars being irradiated by the solar radiation,
we believe that finding life on the surface is probably very, very difficult.
But we've calculated that down to a depth of a metre and a half,
we could have chances to find traces of this life
that has not been actually burned by the radiations.
So that's why on board the ExoMars rover,
Rosalind Franklin,
we have installed this drill
that will be able to drill into the surface of Mars
down to a depth of two metres.
That's the deepest depth at which one has ever drilled on Mars.
So, we will do the drilling
and try to extract some samples for analysis on board.
ExoMars is an essential next step for ESA in the field of robotic space exploration.
As it will provide key technology on landing,
moving around
and sample collection on Mars
and other planets.
Later a Mars Sample Return Mission
will even bring samples back to Earth for further analysis.
By visiting our closest neighbour
we will also learn more about own Solar System
and the habitability potential of other planets.