3 ms·
I saw a diagram of a lander, maybe just a prototype, that was constructed like a truncated tetrahedron. It would end up on either the bottom, or one of three si
by Tagbert 3y ago
I saw a diagram of a lander, maybe just a prototype, that was constructed like a truncated tetrahedron. It would end up on either the bottom, or one of three sides. Once it landed the three sides would open up. no matter which orientation, that would push it to an upright position.
- lpribis 3y agoMaybe thinking of Spirit and Opportunity rovers which had a truncated tetrahedron shape of airbags (kinda) and unfolded to the upright position? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Exploration_Rover https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Exploration_Rover
- Tagbert 3y agoyes, that is it. I wonder why they are not using that now? Maybe was too much extra mass and they thought that they could do a proper landing now?
- lpribis 3y agoIt was because of weight constraints. Spirit and Opportunity weighed 185 kg, while Curiosity and Preseverance both weighed around 1000kg. At that weight airbags large enough to cushion down the payload sufficiently would weigh too much. Just look at how large the spirit airbags were to support a rover that was only 1.5m square. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sky_crane_(landing_system)#/media/File%3APathfinder_Air_Bags_-_GPN-2000-000484.jpg https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sky_crane_(landing_system)#/...