"Jorge R. Frank" wrote in message
...
Jeff Findley wrote:

Seriously though, NASA has looked at horizontal landers before and they
do have several advantages. Visibility when landing, much lower center
of gravity (they aren't likely to tip over), and easier access to the
surface (no huge ladders for EVA or huge cranes needed to lower the
payload to the surface).

And, to be fair, one big disadvantage: clearance issues with staging
during abort from powered descent.

True, and that's not the only disadvantage. The notional designs for
landers with both landing engines on the bottom and engines at the back
introduce more failure modes which could trigger an abort.

Jeff
--
"Many things that were acceptable in 1958 are no longer acceptable today.
My own standards have changed too." -- Freeman Dyson