The latest lunar landers are a small copy of the Apollo lunar lander. I thought about improving their design.
My lunar lander design is composed of two parts. At the bottom there will be the collapsible propellent tank and at the top there will be the lunar explorer. The lander will use acetylene as fuel and nitrous oxide as oxidizer because they are self-pressurizing due to their relatively high vapor pressures. The engine will have aerospike nozzle which is more compact than a vacuum optimized bell-shaped nozzle. There will be at least four fixed engines for braking and maneuvering instead of a single gimbled engine. This adds redundancy. The weight of the explorer and the engine thrust will crush the tank walls to pressurize the propellent. This eliminates the need of turbopumps and pressurizing helium tanks. Additionally, their collapsible structure cushions the landing impact.
The lunar explorer will have springy legs which function like spiral wheels. During descent they will be curled inside using the wire tensioners. After landing the wire will be loosened to expand the springy spiral legs. (As seen on the image). Some of the benefits of the springy legs: They can be used to lessen the landing impact. If the lander lands in an awkward position, the legs would push the explorer away from the lander and frees it. When the legs extend, they act like a high radius wheel that help to go over obstacles. They can be used to jump over obstacles. They can be used to climb over the crater walls.
As a result, the lunar explorer will explore the lunar surface with all the necessary scientific sensors and machinery onboard. As long as the sun charges its batteries, it can keep exploring larger areas including the basis of the craters.
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