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0 pointsxarope5y ago0 comments

Ships do this all the time (ballast), and anybody who's ever flown on a light aircraft or helicopter also knows the importance a pilot places on weight distribution.

I guess what's surprising is that they needed that much weight (140+kg seems like a lot?) and couldn't redistribute existing componentry; guess the knapsack algorithm wasn't good enough, or that they just couldn't break up enough pieces?

And yes, Cruise Mass Balance Devices sounds like the type of name a tired engineer would come up with to convince upper management...lol

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FredFS4565y ago

They can't redistribute existing componentry because of competing requirements: during cruise, the spacecraft needs to be balanced around the rotational axis (perseverance rotates at 2RPM in cruise). During re-entry, an asymmetric weight distribution is needed to generate lift.

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FredFS4565y ago

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse