4 ms·
That makes sense, but on mars? Full payload, very little atmospheric drag, little atmosphere to keep the blastolith from scrubbing the bottom of the vehicle. I
by nerpderp82 4y ago
That makes sense, but on mars? Full payload, very little atmospheric drag, little atmosphere to keep the blastolith from scrubbing the bottom of the vehicle. I am talking generically since presumably the first stage won't be landing on mars.
- m4rtink 4y agoLower pressure could help help the exhaust spread more.
- ceejayoz 4y agoMars is far off enough it's entirely speculative on how they'll handle this. Drop some robot bulldozers first? Specialized landers for landing pad construction crews? Bring the heavy cargo via a separate non-atmospheric craft built in Earth orbit? Hover from height for a while to blow debris off a rocky flat spot? I don't have the answer, but IMO cheap mass to Earth orbit is the biggie that enables a whole bunch of options.
- yetihehe 4y agoThere was an idea of adding aluminum powder to exhaust and hovering a little over the pad, so that you deposit a solid metal surface where you intend to land.
- gridspy 4y agoYou missed the moon solution - use engines high off the ground (most of the way up the ship) for landing. Another idea (not starship specific) is to introduce cement (or similar) into the engine burn to build a landing pad from middair.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]