ExoMars capsule in the wind tunnel

The experiments, which are being performed on behalf of the European Space Agency (ESA), are being carried out in the high-enthalpy tunnel in Göttingen, one of the most important large-scale European plants for researching the hypersonic re-entry of spacecraft. The carbon dioxide flows around a model of the landing capsule at almost 16,000 kilometres per hour. This scenario simulates the flight situation of the capsule in Mars’ atmosphere at a height of 40 kilometres above the planet's surface. In the process, temperatures of 6000 degrees Celsius are generated in the test system – hotter than the surface of the Sun.

Credit: DLR.