4 ms·

That sky crane system still blows my mind. Straight out of science fiction.

• contingencies 4mo ago
  Assuming https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sky_crane_(landing_system) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sky_crane_(landing_system) can I ask which part of the system did you find most impressive? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1WX0CATyn8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1WX0CATyn8
  • DonHopkins 4mo ago
    The audacity.
  • undebuggable 4mo ago
    It worked out. Philae lander with harpoons was comparably complex but mostly failed unfortunately.
  • mitthrowaway2 4mo ago
    Mainly because it's a complex multi-step plan with so many potential failure points, which would already be impressive if executed on Earth but even moreso being executed on a distant planet where the conditions are different enough that it can't be fully tested in advance, and yet despite that the whole scheme worked flawlessly. But if I had to name a specific part, I'd pick the control system. The skycrane is dangling a heavy rover from a pendulum controlled by rockets. It's unstable in every axis and has tight performance requirements to let the rover down softly and not kick up dust. Just very impressive.
    • contingencies 4mo ago
      My understanding was the 20m tether length was designed to avoid dust. More interesting to me were the choice of nylon vs. other polymers, the equal-release multi-line spool design and the choice of cutting the lines on the rover (permanent mission-long mass penalty) vs. skycrane (which is discarded).