On Thu, 27 Feb 2003 18:49:46 -0600, John Carmack <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>The crushable nosecone is a final impact attenuator, just like any normal >cargo drop uses. The rate of decent at landing is < 30 fps. > >If you are coming down with rockets burning, adding some little pointy >things beside the exhaust plumes really doesn't add anything to the danger... But if you are coming down with rockets burning, you can steer; thus, you can choose your landing point. This, presumably, will be some point within the area within which you told FAA you would land. This area will certainly be cleared of bystanders as one of your launch commit criteria. >You pretty much have to assume that if someone is right under a rocket when >it reaches zero altitude, that they die, no matter what the landing method >is. A horizontal lander probably even has a disadvantage there -- it draws >a line instead of a point. But it also has the advantage of being steerable. You steer it to the airport, whose employees clear the field of bystanders as a matter of course. I suppose my point is that if you cannot control to any great accuracy where you are going to land, while you may not be able to ensure the safety of anyone below you with any more efficacy than shouting, "Make way! Make way!" as you come in, you should try to avoid mutilating the corpse. Hm. The crushable nose cone is a great idea. But it would also mutilate the corpse after killing the whuffo it landed on. I think, if you don't have some form of descent steering, that one of your launch commit criteria will be proving, by visual inspection, that there is no one in your LZ. -R -- Every complex, difficult problem has a simple, easy solution - which is wrong. [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________ ERPS-list mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.erps.org/mailman/listinfo/erps-list
