From: henry@spsystems.net   
      
   In article <1124475777.581144.303570@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>,   
     wrote:   
   >Would there be any advantage to using the Mars style airbag descent on   
   >the moon?   
   >Get down near the surface via rocket, slow the descent, fire airbags   
   >and then bounce around till you stop.   
      
   The one real advantage is the same one airbags have on Mars:  they make   
   the landing much less sensitive to the exact choice of touchdown point,   
   improve the odds for a safe blind landing in hostile terrain.   
      
   However, that is a fairly minor issue for the Moon, where speed-of-light   
   lags are short enough to permit landing-point selection by ground control   
   during descent.  (The actual flying of the descent still has to be done on   
   board, but looking at an image shot during descent and telling the control   
   system "land *there*" is quite practical.)   
      
   Airbags also have many of the same disadvantages for the Moon as they do   
   for Mars:  they are complex and heavy (early hopes for a simple, light   
   system did *not* pan out) and they give a rough, poorly-controlled   
   landing.   
   --   
   No, the devil isn't in the details.                     |   Henry Spencer   
   The devil is in the *assumptions*.                      | henry@spsystems.net   
      
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