4 ms·

So both recent landers tipped over?

by tivert 3y ago

TMWNN 3y ago
Yes.
aidenn0 3y ago
Yeah, that confused me for a bit too; real-life deja vu.
kylehotchkiss 3y ago
Maybe a Knex-style mesh ball design would be a good way to construct landers where it could land, roll to a somewhat upright position, flatten out or eliminate the ball mesh, and then deploy upright with solar ready to go. Having 2 entire missions that got us to the surface without a hitch and losing the lander just due to positioning is so unfortunate.
- perilunar 3y ago
  Like this, but rockets instead of rotors: https://www.wired.com/2015/02/drone-bounces-around-disaster-sites-like-beach-ball/ https://www.wired.com/2015/02/drone-bounces-around-disaster-...
  - kylehotchkiss 3y ago
    I googled quite a bit to find a picture of what I meant and this is exactly spot on
- tivert 3y ago
  > Maybe a Knex-style mesh ball design would be a good way to construct landers where it could land, roll to a somewhat upright position, flatten out or eliminate the ball mesh, and then deploy upright with solar ready to go. Kind of like the Mars Pathfinder-style landing system? They were tetrahedrons that could land on any face, then right themselves while unfolding.
bdamm 3y ago
It turns out that there is very little wiggle room for lateral motion on the moon. The landers have just as much inertia as they do on earth, but the low gravity means the legs don't help with stability as much as you'd expect. And I couldn't help but notice that Odysseus has a rather tall profile.
- Log_out_ 3y ago
  But why? Why not build it like a blanket? Force things to fall the right way with physics?
  - foxyv 3y ago
    This is mostly because rockets are cylinders. It's easy to get a long thin tube into space than an odd shape.
pvaldes 3y ago
> So both recent landers tipped over? Bad design choice. There are better ways to do it.
- BobaFloutist 3y ago
  If only they had thought to ask you!
fnordpiglet 3y ago
When you try to land on the Mun in KSP you quickly realize it’s hard as hell to not tip over. It requires a lot of finesse and skillful cherry picking of a landing site. The micro gravity relative to horizontal velocities the grade of crater pits, etc makes it hard. And that’s a video game simulation with human being tweaking the landing. What baffles me is how they launched without navigation turned on. That like something that shouldn’t be possible by construction.

So both recent landers tipped over?

by tivert 3y ago

So both recent landers tipped over?

TMWNN 3y ago

Yes.

aidenn0 3y ago

Yeah, that confused me for a bit too; real-life deja vu.

kylehotchkiss 3y ago

Maybe a Knex-style mesh ball design would be a good way to construct landers where it could land, roll to a somewhat upright position, flatten out or eliminate the ball mesh, and then deploy upright with solar ready to go. Having 2 entire missions that got us to the surface without a hitch and losing the lander just due to positioning is so unfortunate.

perilunar 3y ago
Like this, but rockets instead of rotors: https://www.wired.com/2015/02/drone-bounces-around-disaster-sites-like-beach-ball/ https://www.wired.com/2015/02/drone-bounces-around-disaster-...
- kylehotchkiss 3y ago
  I googled quite a bit to find a picture of what I meant and this is exactly spot on
tivert 3y ago
> Maybe a Knex-style mesh ball design would be a good way to construct landers where it could land, roll to a somewhat upright position, flatten out or eliminate the ball mesh, and then deploy upright with solar ready to go. Kind of like the Mars Pathfinder-style landing system? They were tetrahedrons that could land on any face, then right themselves while unfolding.

bdamm 3y ago

It turns out that there is very little wiggle room for lateral motion on the moon. The landers have just as much inertia as they do on earth, but the low gravity means the legs don't help with stability as much as you'd expect. And I couldn't help but notice that Odysseus has a rather tall profile.

Log_out_ 3y ago
But why? Why not build it like a blanket? Force things to fall the right way with physics?
- foxyv 3y ago
  This is mostly because rockets are cylinders. It's easy to get a long thin tube into space than an odd shape.

pvaldes 3y ago

> So both recent landers tipped over? Bad design choice. There are better ways to do it.

BobaFloutist 3y ago
If only they had thought to ask you!

fnordpiglet 3y ago

When you try to land on the Mun in KSP you quickly realize it’s hard as hell to not tip over. It requires a lot of finesse and skillful cherry picking of a landing site. The micro gravity relative to horizontal velocities the grade of crater pits, etc makes it hard. And that’s a video game simulation with human being tweaking the landing. What baffles me is how they launched without navigation turned on. That like something that shouldn’t be possible by construction.