Date: 20 July 2011
Copyright: SENER

The EDM's landing system was tested for its capability to land safely on a wide range of terrain that may be encountered by the EDM (slopes up to 19 degrees, and rocks of various shapes up to 38 centimetres height). Crushing tests on samples helped study the main mechanical properties of the material. This movie shows the test of the crushable material with a high-speed camera working at 30 000 frames per second. The speed at impact is the maximum expected when landing on Mars: 4.2 metres per second.

The landing system tests were performed by SENER, led by Thales Alenia Space, Italy, under ESA supervision.