In June and July of 2003, NASA launched the latest in Mars Exploration vehicles, Opportunity and Spirit. After undergoing a 7 month journey from Earth, the spacecrafts entered the Martian atmosphere in January, 2004. A mortar-deployed, Disk-Gap-Band (DGB) parachute slowed the crafts from supersonic entry conditions, and the Parachute Deceleration System then stabilized the spacecrafts for optimal retro rocket firing just above the surface of Mars. Pioneer, under contract to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), used design experience from the Mars Polar Lander, Mars 2001, and the wildly successful Mars Pathfinder programs to develop a system for a larger payload without large increases in weight or volume. The pictures below show the parachute system 1 & 2) undergoing development testing at the NASA Ames Full-Scale Wind Tunnel, and 3) Integrated within the Spacecraft.