The deployment mortar was also tested extensively. Perseverance’s parachute is packed tightly into an aluminum canister and when deployed an explosive propellant at the base of the mortar will launch the parachute. With the strength of Technora® in the chute, tests at the extreme temperatures that could be experienced were all successful.
Charles Lowry, lead project engineer for Airborne Systems North America, Mars 2020 Parachute System subcontractor, explained, “When designing and building the parachute system for Mars Perseverance Rover, it was very important to utilize the volume that we were allocated to its fullest potential. Thanks to its outstanding strength-to-weight ratio, Technora® allows us to do just that and increases the overall safety of the mission by providing more volume for stronger parachute cloth. There are many unknowns involved in any mission to space, but the tried and proven performance of Technora® is not one of them.”
