NASA researchers Paul Bean, center, and Mark Hagiwara, right, attach the capsule with parachute system to the Enhancing Parachutes by Instrumenting the Canopy test experiment on June 4, 2025, at NASA’s Armstong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. NASA researchers are developing technology to make supersonic parachutes safer and more reliable for delivering science instruments and payloads to Mars.

The Enhancing Parachutes by Instrumenting the Canopy project team examines a capsule and parachute following an air launch from an Alta X drone on June 4, 2025, at NASA’s Armstong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. NASA researchers are developing technology to make supersonic parachutes safer and more reliable for delivering science instruments and payloads to Mars.

Derek Abramson, left, and Justin Link, right, attach an Alta X drone to the Enhancing Parachutes by Instrumenting the Canopy test experiment on June 4, 2025, at NASA’s Armstong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. Abramson is NASA chief engineer at the center’s Dale Reed Subscale Flight Research Laboratory, where Link also works as a pilot for small uncrewed aircraft systems. NASA researchers are developing technology to make supersonic parachutes safer and more reliable for delivering science instruments and payloads to Mars.

The Enhancing Parachutes by Instrumenting the Canopy test experiment lands following an air launch from an Alta X drone on June 4, 2025, at NASA’s Armstong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. NASA researchers are developing technology to make supersonic parachutes safer and more reliable for delivering science instruments and payloads to Mars.

An Alta X drone is positioned at altitude for an air launch of the Enhancing Parachutes by Instrumenting the Canopy test experiment on June 4, 2025, at NASA’s Armstong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. NASA researchers are developing technology to make supersonic parachutes safer and more reliable for delivering science instruments and payloads to Mars.

An Alta X drone air launches the Enhancing Parachutes by Instrumenting the Canopy test experiment on June 4, 2025, at NASA’s Armstong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. NASA researchers are developing technology to make supersonic parachutes safer and more reliable for delivering science instruments and payloads to Mars.

The parachute of the Enhancing Parachutes by Instrumenting the Canopy test experiment deploys following an air launch from an Alta X drone on June 4, 2025, at NASA’s Armstong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. NASA researchers are developing technology to make supersonic parachutes safer and more reliable for delivering science instruments and payloads to Mars.