The Red Planet, captured in 2017 by the Hubble Space Telescope
The parachute system, designed for ground-based spacecraft on Mars, will be tested this week off the coast of Virginia. The launch was scheduled for Friday from the US spaceport in Wallops (east coast of Virginia), and it will be the third test of the parachute system.
Representatives of NASA said in a press release that the system is designed to descend the vehicle on the Red Planet at supersonic speeds. Such a parachute was used in 2012 for landing the Martian scientific laboratory. The agency hopes to make improvements to the system through tests in Virginia.
It is expected that the rocket transporting parachute system will reach an altitude of 51.5 km. Fall is planned in the Atlantic Ocean at a distance of 40 miles from the island of Wallops.
