Most Mars landers or rovers use parachutes as part of their landing procedure, but Mars’ thin atmosphere makes even this low-tech approach a perilous one. (Credit: ESA/ATG medialab)

ExoMars is a planned mission to Mars set to launch in the summer of 2020. But a recent series of parachute test failures may threaten that launch date.

ExoMars is being built by a joint operation between the European and Russian space agencies (ESA and Roscosmos). It was designed as a two-part mission, the fi