3 ms·
The ejecta would go out to the side and not harm the lander. I'm just amazed that the ejecta is being thrown hard enough to be a threat at orbital altitude.
by LorenPechtel 3y ago
The ejecta would go out to the side and not harm the lander. I'm just amazed that the ejecta is being thrown hard enough to be a threat at orbital altitude.
- azernik 3y agoThat's a simplifying assumption (per the paper). In reality it would be a distribution, with a lot less going up than to the sides. Plus then you're dealing with damage to your hopefully-smooth landing site.
- adastra22 3y agoIt’s a combination of the moon’s orbital velocity being low and the exhaust velocity being high.
- LorenPechtel 3y agoI'm still surprised that it can impart that much velocity, though.
- adastra22 3y agoWell is it not intuitive that something being blown by a moving fluid approaches speeds equal to the speed of the fluid?