Questions tagged [landing]
Questions regarding the specific part of flights, during which a spacecraft touches down on the solid ground of a celestial body.
337
questions
8
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1answer
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Why are the Space Shuttle Orbiter's landing gear not level?
Looking at an image of the orbiter on the ground, it's obvious the nose landing gear is positioned higher than the other landing gear in the wings, making the nose of the orbiter droop down. As far as ...
3
votes
1answer
90 views
SpaceX live broadcast of booster & boat's eye view of the GPS III Space Vehicle 5 were both uninterrupted; have they make some upgrades to the system?
This answer to Why does the video feed always fail during Falcon 9 landings? shows that SpaceX seems to be "getting better at" or "less shy about" broadcasting continuous live ...
0
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1answer
148 views
What independent evidence is there that the Zhurong rover landed on Mars in May 2021? [duplicate]
The China National Space Administration announced, on the 17th of May 2021, that the Tianwen 1 mission landed the Zhurong rover on Mars, with the landing taking place on the 15th of May 2021. What ...
6
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0answers
100 views
Other than safety qualifications, was there any technical/engineering reason why propulsive landing was cancelled for the DragonV2?
The Dragon V2 cannot perform a propulsive landing. But the Starship will be making propulsive landings. Why?
3
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0answers
159 views
Why does the landing trajectory of a blunt body take an S shape in the lower atmosphere?
I coded some Matlab plots of altitude vs time for the re-entry of a point mass (so no aerothermo analysis included). In all the trajectories, there is an S shape closer to the ground. Why? Please ...
5
votes
3answers
438 views
Is it possible to know where the Long March 5B will be landed approximately?
I have read some articles about the uncontrolled space rocket the Long March 5B including some space tracker websites but none of them give any useful information about the rocket landing.
Is it ...
7
votes
1answer
292 views
Did Yuri Gagarin really telephone officials in Moscow to come pick him up?
A farmer and her daughter observed the strange scene of a figure in a bright orange suit with a large white helmet landing near them by parachute. Gagarin later recalled, "When they saw me in my ...
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0answers
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Why did SN10 rest at a slight incline after landing? [duplicate]
Recently when SpaceX's SN10 landed, before it exploded, it sat still on the ground for a few minutes.
It appears to be resting at a slight incline.
Why is this?
-7
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3answers
188 views
Why did the communication cable of the Perseverance rover make an angle so great with the other three cables? [closed]
How can you explain the weird position of the communication cable in the image below?
The Perseverance about 20 meters above the surface of Mars. The communication cable, between the rover and its ...
3
votes
1answer
128 views
How many spacecraft bounced like a ball on Mars? How many tried to?
The answer to Why a rover bounces after landing on Mars? is "the Mars Exploration Rovers" of which there were two.
However, they might not be the only spacecraft to use bouncing like a ball ...
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3answers
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A mysterious flash of light on the surface of Mars while the Perseverance rover was landing. What can it be? [closed]
A mysterious light that lasted a fraction of a second appeared on the surface of Mars while the Perseverance rover was descending. What can its source be?
See: Perseverance Rover’s Descent and ...
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4answers
495 views
The Mars parachute opened against a black sky on Earth but a blue-magenta sky on Mars during Perseverance landing. How is it possible? [closed]
I have discovered two images (see below) and I do not find an explanation for the different color of the sky as seen from below the parachute just starting to deploy. The video with the test performed ...
61
votes
4answers
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How were Perseverance's cables “cut” after touching down?
In the NASA conference today regarding Perseverance's successful landing on Mars, they talked about how you can see the cable that held the rover in this picture below (I circled the cable).
I'm ...
6
votes
0answers
57 views
What are the rules for callouts during mission landings?
I remember hearing at one point that in the control room at JPL, only the GN&C Lead is allowed to make the announcement for touchdown. It's because they don't want someone prematurely (and ...
4
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0answers
156 views
Has there ever been an attempt or serious consideration for spacecraft to land on Mars without an ablative-type heat shield?
My answer to Do exploration spacecraft enter Mars atmosphere against Mars rotation, or on the same direction? lauds the use of ablative heat shields for minimizing radiative heating of a spacecraft by ...
6
votes
2answers
470 views
How tall are the “cliffs of the delta” in the Perseverance rover's landing ellipse?
edit: For all the cliff-doubters in comments, here's a quote of Project Scientist Ken Farley in the new NASA video After the Landing: An Update about NASA’s Perseverance Mars Rover after ...
31
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7answers
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Why not land SpaceX's Starship like a plane?
I get the reasoning behind designing Starship to land upright. It doesn't require landing gear and the turnaround is expected to be much faster. But I'm beginning to question that logic.
I think the ...
16
votes
1answer
1k views
Are launch windows to Mars avoided if they result in landings during dust storm season?
This comment suggests that orbit before descent to Mars' surface allows a mission to delay the landing if the weather conditions are bad. I think that Tianwen-1 will be the first to put a lander rover ...
6
votes
1answer
221 views
SpaceX Starship: Could they use the Vacuum engines during landing in case of other engine failure?
With the recent test (and RUD due to single engine relight failure) of SN-9, Musk has stated that what they should've done was light all three raptor engines simultaneously then turn one off so as to ...
1
vote
1answer
147 views
How long is Falcon 9 suicide burn?
My question is
How long is a Falcon 9 suicide burn?
I assume the answer might vary between rides, depending on the payload lifted and its destination orbit so the time might not be the same for a ...
6
votes
1answer
163 views
What is the heaviest object to have been returned to Earth with a parachute?
Per What were the biggest and heaviest spacecrafts to safely return from orbit?, the biggest and heaviest spacecrafts to safely return from orbit were space shuttles and space planes.
What were the ...
8
votes
1answer
463 views
Can the space shuttle use OMS engines during landing?
Can the space shuttle use its OMS engines if the shuttle is short during the runway approach? Is fuel available for use in such a situation and will the engines provide reasonable thrust to get to the ...
4
votes
1answer
221 views
Starship deceleration during belly flop?
Was just wondering what level of deceleration did they get during that belly flop manouver?
Updated:
Hiya, you're all correct, and I was a tad vague in my question! What I'm after is the vertical ...
4
votes
2answers
191 views
How was an emergency landing site at Diego Garcia used during the Apollo program?
On the current Starlink mission as the 2nd stage passed over the Indian Ocean I heard mention of contact with a ground station at Diego Garcia. Checking that article I found the subsection Space ...
3
votes
0answers
48 views
How to get MSL coordinates during EDL from SPICE kernel?
Upon trying to extract MSL position above surface by decoding a SPICE kernel, I am gettin this error:
At epoch 3.9750216818313E+08 TDB (2012 AUG 06 05:16:08.183 TDB), there
is insufficient ...
1
vote
0answers
18 views
Falcon 9 Stage 1 Guidance After Separation?
Does anyone know how stage 1 of Falcon 9 is guided immediately after stage separation?
I'm not interested at this point in getting it to a precise landing spot, nor am I interested in the landing ...
4
votes
1answer
79 views
Does the SpaceX Falcon 9 first stage fleet, fly in order?
SpaceX by the end of 2020, made it very clear that they have solved the first stage reflight problem. Two cores have flown 7 times. Several are over 4 flights. At the beginning of 2021 they have about ...
2
votes
2answers
247 views
Can the Space Shuttle land on Mars assuming there is a paved surface for landing?
Can the Space Shuttle land on Mars if it had a paved runway?
Can the Space Shuttle use aerobraking and will its control surfaces provide attitude control?
Can the parachute and braking systems stop ...
3
votes
1answer
92 views
Besides landing several folks on the Moon and returning them safely to the Earth what criteria did Human Landing System proposals to NASA meet?
The new NASA video NASA 2021: Let's Go to the Moon shows artwork for three very different spacecraft sitting on the lunar surface with the overlain caption
Selecting A Human Landing System
"...
1
vote
1answer
176 views
Can Starship use dedicated smaller auxiliary landing fuel tanks?
Would it be better for Starship to have a separate set of small fuel tanks dedicated to landing the ship, maybe controlled separately or plumbed differently.
7
votes
1answer
99 views
Is there possible engine damage without launch platform on Mars return flight?
When a Starship has landed on Mars, there is not going to be any kind of prepared platform initially. (That may be a task for early crews to resolve).
Is there the possibility that Starship, sitting ...
6
votes
2answers
727 views
How many burns does New Shepard have during a descent?
The Falcon 9 first stage is making two or three burns for descending:
boostback burn (optional, depends on return to launch site vs ocean landing)
entry burn
landing burn
But how many burns is the ...
11
votes
2answers
2k views
Land a cubesat on the moon with ion engine
Say I have a 3U cubesat with a BIT-3 ion thruster, an iodine tank and landing legs. Can it land on the Moon with just an ion thruster?
4
votes
0answers
214 views
How heavy is SpaceX's Octagrabber?
SpaceX's drone ships have a vehicle that drives under a booster after landing and then clamps onto it to secure it. Photos of it suggest that it has neither ballast nor any way to clamp onto the ...
4
votes
1answer
192 views
Can the grid fins affect the rotation of the Falcon 9 descent?
Can the grid fins control the rotation of the Falcon 9 on descent?
How would they have to be positioned to stop the rotation?
If used to rotate the ship, then how they would they have to be positioned ...
2
votes
0answers
101 views
Could SN8 miss its “bellyflop” if Center of Gravity is too far forward?
Very excited about the upcoming Space X Starship SN8 test flight, but was concerned about the ability to perform the high drag horizontal belly flop with some of the rocket thruster hardware missing ...
21
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5answers
4k views
Which astronauts or cosmonauts were injured by a hard landing?
Sigmund Jähn, the first German in orbit, was injured during a hard landing of the Soyuz 29 capsule on September 3rd, 1978. He got permanent damages of his vertebral column.
Are there other astronauts ...
13
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3answers
4k views
Did Apollo have braking rockets for soft landing on Earth?
Did Apollo have braking rockets for soft landing on Earth? I have checked Google but cannot find an answer.
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1answer
85 views
How long it takes for the Falcon 9 payload fairings to reach the sea?
The payload fairings of Falcon 9 are released at about 3:15 min
How much time they need to fall and reach the sea?
And what is their maximum speed while reentry?
1
vote
1answer
100 views
Falcon 9 landing stages
I know the first stage of Falcon 9 separates at about 2:30 min and it lands at about 8:30 min
But what are the distinct stages of the descent? Like deorbit burns, grid fin deployment, leg deployment ...
2
votes
0answers
51 views
What is the splash down speed of the manned dragon capsule?
What's the rated speed of the crewed dragon capsule? Do we have any data on the actual measurement for the demo mission?
I'd also appreciate any info on speed for Soyuz, other soviet manned, Apollo, ...
0
votes
3answers
165 views
Are Falcon 9 1st stages now always landed at sea?
Does the first stage of Falcon 9 now always land on a drone ships at sea?
Say since 2016 or so.
5
votes
2answers
147 views
Could Crew Dragon Make an Emergency Landing on Land?
Could a capsule designed for ocean splashdown still land successfully on land in an emergency? The speed of the capsule is slowed to ~15 MPH, which seemingly wouldn't destroy the capsule.
18
votes
4answers
3k views
Is there a risk that re-entering capsules or other components will hit ships or islands?
How precisely can the splash-down point of re-entering capsules (from Mercury onwards) be known in advance? Wasn't there a risk that capsules would hit a ship or an island?
Likewise, Russian and ...
3
votes
1answer
123 views
What are the main stages of a Crew Dragon descent?
From answers to How much time it takes for the capsules to descend from ISS back down to Earth? I understand it takes 19 hours from the undocking from ISS until it touches the land.
But what are the ...
5
votes
0answers
58 views
Engine configuration for lander
Which is a more stable lander design:
1.Single central engine.
2.Multiple engines located near the corners
Following is the design for Tianwen-1, the Chinese Mars lander:
And following is the design ...
2
votes
0answers
105 views
What are the challenges for delivering bulk asteroid commodities to Earth? [closed]
I think nickel-iron is an extraordinary and perhaps unique resource that is (by Earth market standards) valuable even as a raw and unprocessed commodity - perhaps several thousand US$ per ton for high ...
5
votes
1answer
96 views
Do the ASDS barges have mission specific equipment?
End of June 2020, there was a planned Starlink (L9) mission on Jun 26, and OCISLY (Of Course I Still Love You, name of the vessel, really! Not making that up!) went out catch the stage.
Then a few ...
10
votes
1answer
506 views
How close to a building has a Soyuz landed?
Soyuz capsules are designed to land onto land. To avoid the small chance of harming people or property, they are usually targeted to land in remote parts of Kazakhstan. However, some landings aren't ...
3
votes
0answers
125 views
Space-X Falcon-9 and Falcon Heavy fuel consumed for landing
The question is, how much fuel is used by each of above rockets for landing (in % of whole fuel of the rocket) as a function of three following components - payload, orbit and descend trajectory (land/...
