Curiosity at Martian Scenic Overlook - video panorama of route taken to date

[video=youtube;U5nrrnAukwI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5nrrnAukwI[/video]

Looks like a great launchsite to me if only we could get there and breathe. Kurt

ksaves2 said:

Looks like a great launchsite to me if only we could get there and breathe. Kurt

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Low grav and low surface pressure would make for some awesome flights, but fins would not be terriblely effective.

SpaceManMat said:

Low grav and low surface pressure would make for some awesome flights, but fins would not be terriblely effective.

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Sure they would as long as a long enough rail and extremely powerful motor is used to get it up to speed fast, really fast. Kurt

SpaceManMat said:

Low grav and low surface pressure would make for some awesome flights, but fins would not be terriblely effective.

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But instability is mostly aerodynamics as well...

You could get a slight performance boost from a stretched nozzle as well, as most motors would be underexpanded.

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The sandstorm in the movie The Martian was completely Hollywood drama. I read that the worst storm on Mars would actually feel like a light breeze due to the super thin atmosphere.

So even fast moving rockets might not get much help from fins unless they were much bigger than the ones we use, if that's even possible.

We should start a rocket club on Mars. Anyone know how to get in touch with Elon? We can pitch some ideas for the first cargo to get there and see if we can send up a few dozen model rockets with various fin size and motor combinations.

If I wanted to launch high power rockets on Mars, would I need a waiver?

Forget fins then. Active stabilization would be a requirement.

Who will start the first MAR section?

Cabernut said:

Forget fins then. Active stabilization would be a requirement.

Who will start the first MAR section?

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Curiosity did when it released its skycrane... It lawndarted.

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Cabernut said:

Forget fins then. Active stabilization would be a requirement.

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Launch finless rocket from spun-up launch tube.