[meteorite-list] UA Science Team Readies For NEAR Landing

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 09:41:07 2004
Message-ID: <200102072239.OAA00006_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

>The reason I mention this is that in
> the NASA press release someone said "it's just going to fall over". No its
> not, its going to bounce off, just like Gene Cernan did!

>I can't believe the surface gravity is enough
> to immediately counteract a velocity of 3 - 6 m/s, even if some energy will
> be lost to friction. It will bounce,

Actually, the spacecraft may just embed itself into the surface.
It isn't going to "bounce off like Genen Cernan did", as you asserted in your original
message. The navigators are attempting to the land the spacecraft so that its
solar arrays are pointed away from the surface, which may extend the life
of the mission if the spacecraft survives the landing. In this position
the spacecraft will be sitting on the surface like a tripod, with two of the
solar arrays acting as "legs". It is possible the spacecraft
may tip over from this tripod position and fall over, which then may point the
solar arrays into the surface. This would be the worst case scenario if it
happens.

Ron Baalke
Received on Wed 07 Feb 2001 05:39:27 PM PST