The Technology of Landing on Mars :: Computers Space Papers

The Technology of Landing on impair While expert traveling to Mars is a difficult task, set down on the satellite has proved to be next to impossible, with only a small segment of the attempted landing places ending in success. Over the years there shit been several opposite designs of Martian landers that own attempted to slip last(prenominal) the proverbial galactic ghoul protecting the planet Mars. However, few of these designs have fared successful at landing smoothly. These technologies have ranged from the original Viking using aero braking and come up power, to the Mars Pathfinder missions novel air notecase solution. In order to gain insight into the surface of the red planet, landing is a must. Thus, the potential solutions and their benefits and drawbacks must be examined.The Purpose Delta V requirementTo get from orbit around Mars to the surface requires a fundamental amount of braking. First, the lander in orbit has a large amount of gravitative energy with respect to the surface of the planet. Second, orbiting the planet requires a certain speeding that will be greater than the pep pill of rotation of the planet for a low orbit, this excess velocity must be bled off as well.Energy requirements they are usually expressed in terms of the careen in velocity necessary for a given maneuver, or delta-v. To nonpayment from a planet requires a certain increase in velocity and to land requires a certain decrease. Either way, however, energy is required in absolute terms, the energy required to land should match the energy required to escape. Escaping the surface of the Earth requires about 11,000 m/s of delta-v. To travel to Mars orbit about 6,000 m/s is required. The smallest portion of the delta-v required is the some 5,000 m/s necessary to land on the surface of Mars. (Clarke 221). However, what makes this ane of the well-nigh interesting phase of the trip is that whereas we pretty much go what to expect from the first two leg s of the trip, what types of situations we may encounter on landing are largely unknown.How To Methods of LandingThere are several different options to lower the velocity of the lander once it has reached the planet. These options are generally used in combination with one another for maximum effect. Each has its own advantages and drawbacks, only when in combination, some of these can be alleviated.Aerodynamic DragThe most broadly used, and most useful, of the speed-reduction mechanisms fall under the category of aerodynamic drag.