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/sci/ - Science & Math

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9596776 No.9596776 [Reply] [Original]

Would a horizontal landing on the moon be possible? I'm talking about leaving lunar orbit and landing on an airstrip like the space shuttle. I don't care if it's impractical, I just want to know if it's possible. Ignoring all of the logistics of constructing an airstrip on the moon, is there anything stopping an airplane-style landing on the moon? Obviously, the near-vacuum conditions make wings not viable as sources of lift, but I reckon using monopropellant thrusters ought to be a suitable alternative. Is there anything I'm missing? Anything that would make this totally impossible?

>> No.9596798

>>9596776
I suppose it's possible but it's retarded

>> No.9596806

>>9596776
You'll want to put thrusters on the bottom of the plane, like in some military planes. Otherwise the plane will be rolling on the ground until orbital velocity, and the landing gear will certainly break before that's reached.

>> No.9596816

its not near vacuum
it IS vacuum
Mars is near vacuum

what would be the point of this, there is no air to give lift so there is no advantage to keeping horizontal velocity

>> No.9596823

>>9596776
>like the space shuttle
No. The shuttle landing on Earth uses air on its wings to control the flight. There is no atmosphere on the Moon to enable that type of control.

>> No.9596825

>>9596776
of course it's possible. you just need a very long landing strip made of a special material that creates friction on the moonplane to decelerate it without damaging it. some sort of ultra-clean gel that is soft on one end of the landing strip and hard on the other.

>> No.9596827

>>9596816
You could use the landing gear's brakes to reduce your horizontal velocity, and then you don't have to expend as much fuel to come to a stop because you only need to use thrusters to kill your vertical velocity.

>> No.9596837

>>9596776
Your orbital adjustments would have to be incredibly precise to hit the runway at a near-horizontal angle

>> No.9596838

>>9596776
>is there anything stopping an airplane-style landing on the moon
nothing
and that's the problem
planes land by lowering their thrust and engaging air brakes, while maintaining LIFT
shuttle also deployed parachutes once on the ground
you have literally none of that on the moon so you have retrorockets or nothing
to clarify ALL lunar landings were horizontal, the landers didn't drop onto the surface straight from the top like 40K drop pods or anything of the sort, they were following a ballistic trajectory that was controlled by use of retrorockets.
landing and taking off on the moon SORT OF like an aircraft can be done, but you will be bruteforcing the air's job with valuable fuel that could be spend much MUCH better