[amsat-bb] Re: Soft,,, Well Kind Of,,

[Bob Christy]

In 1966, the Soviet Luna 9 survived a near-vertical landing on the Moon 
with a speed of about 50km/h (approx 30mph). It used an inflated bag to 
cushion the impact.

In 1997, America's Pathfinder rover used a similar technique and touched 
down on Mars with a similar vertical speed. It was designed to take an 
impact about fifty percent greater than it actually experienced.

It would be possible to land something at a high velocity, providing the 
vertical component is not much more than that of Luna 9 or Pathfinder. 
Horizontal speed can be killed by rolling and bouncing, as happened with 
Pathfinder when it struck the surface at an angle of about 50 degrees.

The downside of this approach comes in the form of any significant 
vertical obstruction such as a large boulder or a cliff face.

Bob Christy


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What speed do you think would be max survivable speed for a landing on 
the moon for a robot, or comm system?

How fast could something hit and survive?

 Joe