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I'm curious as to why SpaceX, or their competitors haven't utilize Sky Cranes, a la Mars Science Laboratory: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Science_Laborator
by sargun 12y ago
I'm curious as to why SpaceX, or their competitors haven't utilize Sky Cranes, a la Mars Science Laboratory: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Science_Laboratory#Sky_crane_landing http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Science_Laboratory#Sky_cra... - basically, it seems to be a powered parachute.
- mmcnickle 12y agoThe sky crane solves a very particular set of problems with landing a (relatively) small, functional rover on Mars. It's not really a general solution to returning a large payload intact to Earth.
- danielweber 12y agoThe sky crane will probably never be used again. It was an engineering marvel but the requirements that brought it into being were a management nightmare. (Requirements to not use any carbon-based propellant directly on the surface of Mars, which probably got violated anyway because you can still see blast marks from the sky crane where MSL landed.) And it was only useful for one very particular mass window -- much lighter and it wouldn't be useful, much heavier and it couldn't work.
- JulianMorrison 12y agoThe main difference between a sky crane and a soft-landing rocket stage is whether the braking/hovering engines are inside the thing landed (SpaceX) or outside and discarded after landing (sky crane). Since SpaceX is doing their best to not discard things, a sky crane is the opposite of what they want.