Abstract
The world’s largest wind tunnel – the 80- by 120-foot Wind Tunnel at the National Full-Scale Aerodynamics Complex – has served a critical role in ensuring the success of Mars exploration missions for nearly two decades. Starting with the Mars Exploration Rover Program, NASA has leveraged the wind tunnel’s unique combination of size and speed to provide an incredibly effective and cost-efficient means for qualifying their parachute decelerators for every Mars rover and lander mission in the twenty-first century. The wind tunnel environment offers significant improvements in control over test conditions as well as detailed imaging and data collection options which are not possible in a traditional drop-test environment, all at much lower cost per test. This provides an invaluable advantage in ensuring the timely and efficient qualification of parachutes to safely deliver advanced research assets to the Red Planet.
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