Posted by tourdemars to Future Missions at June 11, 2007 05:02 PM

The project to design and build a European rover to send to Mars has passed an important milestone. Engineers have demonstrated a vented, or dead-beat, airbag technology that could be used to cushion the vehicle's landing on the Red Planet. An effective entry, descent and landing system will be critical to the success of the ExoMars mission, as it is known. The test's success will be welcome news to European space delegations as they meet on Monday to review the project.