Question: How does the specialised parachute on the Mars rover work?

Kevin Fong answered on 6 Jan 2016:

So it’s worth looking at this

http://mars.nasa.gov/msl/mission/technology/insituexploration/edl/biggerparachute/

and listening to this inspiring interview with Anita Sengupta

https://player.fm/series/bbc-discovery/life-changers-anita-sengupta

It’s hard to land on Mars. The atmosphere is thin – too thin for conventional parachutes to work properly – and vehicles like the Curiosity rover arriving from space are travelling too fast, and are too heavy, to rely on rocket thrusters alone.

The curiosity parachute is designed to withstand the forces involved – there’s a gap in the parachute that helps to limit the forces on the canopy – and it’s reinforced with kevlar – which is a both light and strong.

But have a listen.