An interesting thread:
Will the flight crew get to “drive” Starship HLS during terminal landing on the Moon, or will landing be fully automated? The idea of a pilot landing something so tall and massive by hand on rough terrain seems a little… difficult? But if there’s no crew in the loop, how will… pic.twitter.com/338ApLPcLx
— Dr. Phil Metzger (@DrPhiltill) March 14, 2025
A vehicle like Starship HLS will take fly-by-wire (FBW) to perhaps a new level. The Apollo spacecraft were digital FBW. The astronauts imparted a command to change the thrust level or vehicle attitude and the tiny computer sent the correct commands to the engine or thrusters. The astronaut was still flying the vehicle (LM or CM) but the computer took care of the details. It’s similar on FBW aircraft but more sophisticated.
For HLS, the computers will be flying the vehicle in all details. The vehicle, like Crew Dragon, will be able to fly the mission completely autonomously. The crew will have the authority to provide inputs or even override the system in the event of an emergency. It’ll be like the joke of how future airliners will have one pilot and a dog in their cockpits. The pilot’s job is to take over control in the event of an emergency, and the dog’s job is to bite the pilot if he touches the controls.
If they continue the waist-mounted landing engine plan, it won’t be that difficult for either the computer or the pilot. Cameras and radar for the software, a joystick for the pilot, who will have flown some big helicopters for practice. The out the window view won’t be that useful. Like landing a grain silo.
I am prepared to argue that what’s shown is the worst possible orientation for landing. All others are more convenient.
But its advantage is that it requires the least development time and cost, and so puts boots on the moon the soonest.
But if lunar flights became a going thing and not a flag and footprints operation, they should switch to landing either on its side or upside-down, and have the whole front exposed for lunar operation by jettisoning a payload shroud on the way to LEO.
Given they have a separate set of landing engines anyway, a belly-first landing seems like a plausible development.
I’ve seen nothing to suggest it will happen, however.