Curiosity Parachute on Mars Surface Seen Flapping in the Wind

Newly released photos from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter show how the parachute that helped NASA's Curiosity rover decent on Mars last summer in a spectacular landing maneuver has subsequently changed its shape on the ground due to stormy weather. While the Mars atmosphere is very thin, only about one percent of the density of Earth's atmosphere, it is apparently strong enough to move the quite substantial parachute.

The images were obtained by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

Seven images taken by HiRISE between Aug. 12, 2012, and Jan. 13, 2013, show the used parachute shifting its shape at least twice in response to wind.

The images in the sequence of photos are available online at https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA16813 .

The parachute is the largest one of its kind ever constructed, coming in about 20 meters in diameter. The gap between the white and orange-hued sections prevented the chute from becoming torn during the descent phase.

Researchers have used HiRISE, which is operated by the University of Arizona in Tucson, to study many types of changes on Mars. Its first image of Curiosity's parachute, not included in this series, caught the spacecraft suspended from the chute during descent through the Martian atmosphere.