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Its landing was supposed to be softened by a thruster, which didn't work, and it was supposed to be held fast upon landing by harpoons, but they also failed. T
by bunderbunder 12y ago
Its landing was supposed to be softened by a thruster, which didn't work, and it was supposed to be held fast upon landing by harpoons, but they also failed. They presumably did use some shock absorbtion, but it was probably engineered under the assumption that at least some of the rest of the landing system would have worked.
- hughes 12y agoThe thruster, if it had fired, would actually have propelled the lander towards the comet. The idea is that it would hold the lander in place against the ground, not slow the lander's descent.