Comment on Strange New Worlds by Landscape-Painter
It's a tricky subject. One of those thing that seems granted, but the more I think about it, the more I can come up with reasons contradicting each other. I understand that three legs always touch the ground, and that is a solid good reason, but I won't agree on that always stable position. What is the center of gravity on a very tall object, and so forth. If you put a three-legged stool on uneven ground, is its seating surface always on horizontal level? That's why all legs need to be adjustable, even if there were only 3.
Now that I think about this more, also a one-legged design would be viable option: With some sort of gyroscope and stabilizing thrusters, it would stand there like a totem pole. So there's always possibilities.
Now that I think about this more, also a one-legged design would be viable option: With some sort of gyroscope and stabilizing thrusters, it would stand there like a totem pole. So there's always possibilities.
I don't think it matters if the rocket is not completely level. If you draw lines between a rocket's landing legs, you will end up with a shape such as a triangle or a square. As long as the rocket's center of gravity does not move out of the area defined by this shape as seen from above, the rocket will not topple. It doesn't matter if the rocket is tilted just a little bit. As long as it stays upright, we will be okay. Adding a fourth leg or extending the three landing fins further out increases the distance the rocket will have to tilt in order for its center of gravity to move out of the imaginary triangle or square and topple. If, however, not all the legs touch ground, the rocket will rock back and forth and topple, possibly breaking her spine. This is why a four legged design needs adjustable legs, but a three legged design does not.
One leg? I'll stick with three- I don't want to have a rocket that has to keep a massive gyro clutched and several thrusters ready to fire just to stand upright!!
A practical rocket design will have three landing legs/fins or four or more adjustable landing legs/fins. You'll want to keep your center of gravity low, too. It probably will be, with all those propellent tanks and the heavy atomic rocket engine located at the base and the relatively light crew cabin located at the top.
One leg? I'll stick with three- I don't want to have a rocket that has to keep a massive gyro clutched and several thrusters ready to fire just to stand upright!!
A practical rocket design will have three landing legs/fins or four or more adjustable landing legs/fins. You'll want to keep your center of gravity low, too. It probably will be, with all those propellent tanks and the heavy atomic rocket engine located at the base and the relatively light crew cabin located at the top.I can't convince you then? Fair enough. I do get what you're saying and it's a valid point. However, my spoiled passengers do need those stabilizers, so that a coffee mug doesn't slide off from a table. Or, to prevent that giant shark aquarium, that is in the main lounge, flooding over. Other than those sort of things, I agree that terrain is rarely too much tilted or rough, everywhere on a planet.
Stabilizers are complicated, heavy equipment that cuts into your mass budget, and mass is very precious indeed on most rocket ships. The tilt won't be too much on most landscapes, and I think most rocket pilots will aim for flatter landing sites. Also, there is no guarantee that the rocket ship won't be tilted slightly even if the landing jacks are adjustable. The point of adjustable landing jacks is making sure that all the legs touch ground, not that there isn't a tiny tilt when you bump down on an alien planet. If your passengers are so spoiled that they can't deal with the idea of spilling their coffee, how will they deal with high accelerations, spacesickness, your coffee bladder floating away in microgravity, and so on? Space travel calls for those who are capable of facing terrible dangers and forgoing the comforts of home, not groundhogs. I agree that you don't want your ship tilting noticeably, or you are probably in danger of toppling.
P.S. The Project Orion nuclear pulse spaceship would have plenty of extra mass budget for a shark aquarium- but your spoiled passengers could hardly handle being battered by the sudden accelerations caused by a thousand micro-atomic bombs detonating just aft of the ship!!
P.S. The Project Orion nuclear pulse spaceship would have plenty of extra mass budget for a shark aquarium- but your spoiled passengers could hardly handle being battered by the sudden accelerations caused by a thousand micro-atomic bombs detonating just aft of the ship!!
Not to mention that olympic-size swimming pool. Obviously closed when in zero g, but becomes hugely popular when the rocket sets on a planet with more than one g. Wouldn't want that to flood into sauna section.
You'll need a ship the size of the QE2 to contain all those unnecessary luxuries. I'd be careful, though- all that water sloshing around might cause your rocket to fall of its tail and set into a tumble. In a real spacecraft, you'll have to make do with sponge baths. If you are lucky, maybe the rocket has a zero-G shower. I wonder what your spoilt passengers will do if they fly on an ordinary airliner and it hits a patch of turbulence...
I wonder what your spoilt passengers will do if they fly on an ordinary airliner and it hits a patch of turbulence...Sure, judging from the size of the windows, that rocket is maybe a bit small to accommodate swimming pool. Unless those are really huge windows... The other rocket I designed with a some scale in mind, this one just came out without too much of designing. One thing I know for sure: They aren't in our solar system any more. Such a long journey cannot be made in very limited comfort. So I think pool is a must, even if it would be just half-olympic. The crew would go mad without. It would be space-madness 
and disaster! Also 1g showers and toilets in all crew quarters. Some sort of spinning contraptions.
and disaster! Also 1g showers and toilets in all crew quarters. Some sort of spinning contraptions.