4 ms·

Hmmm... Mars' atmosphere is <1% Earth's. So far, everything landing there has needed either retro rockets or (if light enough) elaborate airbags. I don't think

Hmmm... Mars' atmosphere is <1% Earth's. So far, everything landing there has needed either retro rockets or (if light enough) elaborate airbags. I don't think a parachute is enough to keep the Tesla intact after "landing".

adrianN 8y ago
The atmosphere is not thick enough for a soft landing of heavy rovers, but it helps a lot with slowing spacecraft down into an orbit around the planet.
- loeg 8y ago
  A spacecraft attempting that would have to scream past the surface at extremely high velocity and low altitude and get really lucky not to intersect with terrain (mars is not a perfect sphere). It would also require many orbital passes to lower apoapsis to merely circular orbit (i.e., a lot of time). It is probably not practical.
  - adrianN 8y ago
    You're right, it takes a long time and is probably unsuited for a manned mission, but it has been done before and can be useful for getting supplies to a Mars base. https://mars.nasa.gov/mro/mission/timeline/mtaerobraking/ https://mars.nasa.gov/mro/mission/timeline/mtaerobraking/
    - loeg 8y ago
      > It lasted about six months [to circularize to a ~450 km orbit]. There's still a lot of orbital energy left at 450km orbit around mars that you need to get rid of some how, and a parachute probably isn't going to do it.
  - Cthulhu_ 8y ago
    It worked for me in Kerbal Space Program! Don't ask how. Please don't ask.
    - loeg 8y ago
      I always found soft landing on Duna via aerobraking somewhat challenging :-D.
  - sandworm101 8y ago
    That is how it is done. Mars landers dont do orbital insertions. They crash strait into the atmosphere. 1% is more than enough. The retro rockets for landing only cover a few hundred m/s, all vertical. The atmoshpere is what bleeds off the several thousand m/s of horizonal velocity neede for capture. Some probes used no rockets. Parachutes and airbags can land a small probe on mars. That isnt an option on the moon.

adrianN 8y ago

The atmosphere is not thick enough for a soft landing of heavy rovers, but it helps a lot with slowing spacecraft down into an orbit around the planet.

loeg 8y ago
A spacecraft attempting that would have to scream past the surface at extremely high velocity and low altitude and get really lucky not to intersect with terrain (mars is not a perfect sphere). It would also require many orbital passes to lower apoapsis to merely circular orbit (i.e., a lot of time). It is probably not practical.
- adrianN 8y ago
  You're right, it takes a long time and is probably unsuited for a manned mission, but it has been done before and can be useful for getting supplies to a Mars base. https://mars.nasa.gov/mro/mission/timeline/mtaerobraking/ https://mars.nasa.gov/mro/mission/timeline/mtaerobraking/
  - loeg 8y ago
    > It lasted about six months [to circularize to a ~450 km orbit]. There's still a lot of orbital energy left at 450km orbit around mars that you need to get rid of some how, and a parachute probably isn't going to do it.
- Cthulhu_ 8y ago
  It worked for me in Kerbal Space Program! Don't ask how. Please don't ask.
  - loeg 8y ago
    I always found soft landing on Duna via aerobraking somewhat challenging :-D.
- sandworm101 8y ago
  That is how it is done. Mars landers dont do orbital insertions. They crash strait into the atmosphere. 1% is more than enough. The retro rockets for landing only cover a few hundred m/s, all vertical. The atmoshpere is what bleeds off the several thousand m/s of horizonal velocity neede for capture. Some probes used no rockets. Parachutes and airbags can land a small probe on mars. That isnt an option on the moon.