All Questions
49
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Any ideas?: Calculating wet-mass and burn altitude for a Mars landing, using a Python simulation
In this post, I will explain the problem, provide some detailed context, and finally explain what I am searching for (what my question is basically).
First of all, this should be quite a fun but ...
- 21
5
votes
1
answer
285
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 ...
- 1,149
24
votes
5
answers
17k
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Olympus Mons - viable Mars landing site?
I'm becoming interested in how Mars missions are planning their landings. One aspect I see brought up time and again is Mars' awkward atmosphere - 'just enough there that you have to care about it'. ...
2
votes
1
answer
143
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Propellant choices for a Mars landing; tradeoffs between LOX/CH4 and H2O2/RP-1?
What are the tradeoffs between LOX/methane and peroxide/kerosene for a Mars landing mission?
In which ways are each better or worse than the other?
I think the second one would more attractive for ...
- 10.8k
3
votes
2
answers
2k
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Could Perseverance survive if Ingenuity failed?
They both landed successfully and ingenuity was deployed. Perseverance drove away, and then Ingenuity failed. Could Perseverance survive on its own?
CommunityBot
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7
votes
1
answer
2k
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Could Ingenuity survive if Perseverance failed?
For the purposes of this question, we will assume that they both landed successfully. Ingenuity was deployed properly. Then, Perseverance drove away, and then Perserverance say hit a large rock and ...
- 3,756
7
votes
2
answers
579
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 ...
- 7,535
4
votes
0
answers
95
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Landing a 3-ton payload on the surface of Mars
I'm working on a university project about the construction of sustainable exploration camps on Mars. I want to land a 3-ton structure that will be used as a basis to build a shelter on the surface of ...
- 141
2
votes
1
answer
104
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Curiosity landing system versus Spirit/Opportunity's [duplicate]
Spirit/Opportunity used airbags to land while Curiosity had a "carrier" with thrusters and chords - which to me sounds heavier and much more complex, therefore also riskier.
It seems that it would ...
- 12.2k
17
votes
2
answers
3k
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What are the disadvantages of parachute+airbag for atmospheric landing, versus rocket-based?
After Sojourner success, repeated by Spirit and Opportunity, it seemed like we had developed a fail-proof system for atmospheric landing for our probes: there's very little that can go wrong with the ...
- 2,249
1
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1
answer
146
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Transportation on the Mars I Air
Due to the thin atmosphere generating lift on Mars is difficult at a lower speed, Flying is hard until aircraft go supersonic and then it becomes difficult to control(Ref.). The landing would not be ...
- 22.9k
0
votes
1
answer
193
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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 ...
- 293
13
votes
3
answers
2k
views
How precise are our Mars landings?
The idea of surface rendezvous for supply missions to a Mars expedition (either before or after arrival of a manned expedition) seems to come up every now and then. This would allow a manned ...
- 10k
62
votes
4
answers
12k
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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 ...
- 251
-7
votes
3
answers
252
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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 ...
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