David Spain wrote:
"Jorge R. Frank" writes:

David Spain wrote:
Pat Flannery writes:

jacob navia wrote:
(5) The landing technology for a heave vessel in Mars is not there
"Heave Vessel?"
Sounds like space sickness to me. :-D

Pat
Well, I'd suggest a landing technology similar to that used for
the Mars Exploration Rovers would work well....
Not for a vehicle heavy enough to carry humans.

That's why MSL's not using it.

Jorge,

Please note the smiley at the end of my post and the literal
use of the term "heave vessel".

But you're right. A vechicle to carry humans would likely be
too "heavy" (let alone "heevy") for gas bags.

But if the goal is to preserve the "heevy" part, how about
a "roton" design where the blades are just rigidly attached
to the body of the lander and the whole thing rotates down
to a landing?

- :-) -

Dave "Wear the badge of Idiot with pride" Spain....

I noticed the smiley.

But even then, it is not clear what parts of the post were intended to
be serious and which were intended to be humorous,

If the entire post was intended to be humorous, then here is my response:

"Ha, ha!"

But if any of the post was intended to be taken seriously, I'm not sure
what my response should be.

A "Roton" type system would not work in the thin atmosphere of Mars, period.

I suspect that any attempt to design a human Mars lander by "scaling up"
from existing Mars landers is doomed to failure.

I suspect that, like the Apollo LM, the first successful human Mars
lander will depend on propulsive braking. Any braking derived from drag
will be considered a useful bonus but the design will not depend on it.