Japan launches rocket carrying lunar lander and X-ray telescope

Re:Japan launches rocket carrying lunar lander and X-ray tel... by numpad0 on Monday September 11, 2023 @06:37AM (#37465281)

Landing mechanism is cool too. The lander has deformable metallic sponge balls on the legs, hits the soil at its "heel" and tip forward[1].

Official reasons given is it allows reduction of structural margins, physical interferences and tipover risks on inclined surfaces, which seem to make sense. Maybe it's just me that it looks a bit like someone had to have a spacecraft that lands like the Space Shuttle with engines pointing back.

1: https://www.isas.jaxa.jp/feature/forefront/files/201912_1.jp...

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Re:Japan launches rocket carrying lunar lander and X-ray tel... by berniedurfee on Wednesday September 13, 2023 @08:11AM (#37495660)

That’s pretty much my standard landing method in Kerbal.

Descend vertically to keep from having to worry about balancing a bunch of thrusters.

Then, tip over, hopefully in the right orientation and gently enough to not blow up.

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