Parachute set for NASA's next mission to Mars sets speed record on Earth

Before it helps the Mars 2020 rover land on the surface of the Red Planet in 2021, NASA's parachute slated for the mission is setting world records here on Earth.

The U.S. space agency says the parachute set the record for the "fastest inflation in history of a parachute this size and created a peak load of almost 70,000 pounds of force."

"Within four-tenths of a second, the 180-pounds parachute billowed out from being a solid cylinder to being fully inflated," NASA reports in a news release.

"Two different parachutes were evaluated during ASPIRE. The first test flight carried almost an exact copy of the parachute used to land NASA's Mars Science Laboratory successfully on the Red Planet in 2012. The second and third tests carried chutes of similar dimensions but reinforced with stronger materials and stitching."

NASA reported back on Oct. 3 that the ASPIRE tests proved the parachute was "ready for its Martian debut." Not only did it set an impressive speed record, but the space agency says its 67,000-pound load was the most ever survived by a supersonic parachute.

The 67,000-pound figure should be about an 85 percent higher load than what the parachute is expected to face as it enters Mars' atmosphere, according to NASA.

The space agency says the payload is a bullet-nosed, cylindrical structure holding a supersonic parachute, its deployment mechanism, cameras and other data recording instruments.

"Earth's atmosphere near the surface is much denser than that near the Martian surface, by about 100 times," Ian Clark, the technical lead on the tests, said in a release.

"But high up - around 23 miles (37 kilometers) -- the atmospheric density on Earth is very similar to 6 miles (10 kilometers) above Mars, which happens to be the altitude that Mars 2020 will deploy its parachute."

As for the grand plan from NASA, the space agency aims to conduct an unmanned Space Launch System/Orion flight in 2020, with the goal to launch humans to the moon in 2023.

Exploration Mission-1 is the first in a "broad series" of exploration missions aimed at taking humans deeper into space, and "eventually to Mars." The mission aims to fly thousands of miles beyond the moon in a three-week journey remains in place.

Exploration Mission-2 will aim to send astronauts beyond the moon. The second mission, with astronauts aboard, is now scheduled for 2023 as it remains to be seen if the possible delays will cause any launch date changes.

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