ExoMars descent module dynamic balancing test

This image was captured during a dynamic balancing test of the ExoMars 2022 descent module. The image is slightly blurred because the module is spinning. (Click here for movie). Inside the descent module is the Rosalind Franklin rover and Kazachok surface platform that will fly to Mars.

The dynamic balancing test is necessary to ensure the spacecraft is perfectly balanced when spinning in space.

The tests were conducted in the anechoic chamber in Thales Alenia Space’s facilities in Cannes, France. The cleanroom conditions provide a controlled environment to prevent contamination, and where temperature, pressure, humidity and dust concentration are all continuously monitored and recorded.