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How does the SpaceX Starship design accommodate uneven landing surfaces that might not be stable under the weight of the vessel?
I don't understand how SpaceX's Starship would be able to land on unprepared surfaces on the Moon or Mars. It is 50 meters tall, with 6 relatively small landing legs, so to me that sounds a lot like a tall building with no foundations. What are the odds of finding a perfectly flat level surface that won't yield under the enormous pressure on each of the legs?
In my experience, I've noticed that SpaceX uses a lot of temporary components until such temporary components need to actually be tested. Since the legs of MK1, MK2, and most probably MK3 will never see uneven soils rather than concrete landing pads, they will most likely just have simple legs. After a few successes with MK3, we should start seeing much more articulate landing legs that will dynamically adjust to uneven terrain. But for now, it's just an additional engineering effort that is not yet ready for testing. SpaceX has demonstrated that it doesn't put the cart before the horse with many components (unless it's for a press conference, then they do get creative at times!)
Quick answer is all I have time for now -- if someone wants to do a more detailed and referenced answer, please feel free and I'll delete this:
While it's very big, its mass is not that high, and gravity is low. On Mars, for instance, it needs about 150 tons of fuel, plus 100 or so tons of vehicle (mass) to get back to orbit. Under Mars gravity thats only just under 100 tons of weight on the legs -- a couple of fully loaded trucks. It's not surprising that a large truck can drive across a desert supported only by the contact patches of 16 tires.
Modern radar and similar sensors are more than good enough to identify flat landing spots (old lake beds, lava flows, wind-scoured plains, etc.) from orbit. I don't know if we currently have such sensors around Mars - we have some orbiters that are attempting to survey the planet, but perhaps not in such detail as could support finding a landing site - but Starship could presumably carry such as a payload, or several could be launched (perhaps by Falcon 9 or Falcon Heavy vehicles since Starships will presumably remain rare for a while) a few weeks or maybe months earlier than the Starship(s) launch.
Additionally, we have a small but useful amount of Martian surface data already, from landers and especially rovers. While they've probably not specifically been searching for landing sites for a 50m tall 200T (counting payload) vehicle, NASA and other space agencies have amassed considerable information on the immediate surrounds of their landers and rovers. Aiming for such spots might be a bit tricky on a planet with no GPS, but the landing program can permit small alterations in the destination based on terrain, using radar, LIDAR, or similar sensors for fine-grained detail. Starship certainly has the ability for terminal maneuvers before landing; SN8 translated significantly during its flight, rather than just going up and down.
Unmanned Starships could also pilot the way - this is part of the plan - and unload a robot that could set about preparing a landing site. Even if a few of those Starships fail to land safely, all it takes is one with the ability to determine a safe spot for landing, and then ensure that one or more additional safe spots exist in the vicinity.
All of the above is even more true for Luna than for Mars.
