HLHL Versus VLVL

[Cavscout74]

Having "one ship fits all" like a lot of sci-fi is just that - sci-fi.  For Earth (or any other oxygen-atmosphere body), HL/HL makes some sense if the engine tech was there (Skylon/SABRE) but anywhere else VL/VL is the only truly viable option until we get to a point where there are runways on the Moon or Mars.  And to clarify, I define horizontal and vertical as being the primary velocity component not the craft orientation.  A dedicated lander that is built horizontally but has vertically mounted rockets and no wheels is still a vertical launch/landing.

[KerikBalm]

On 9/23/2021 at 11:02 PM, DDE said:

Aircraft-style horizontal landing on airless worlds (i.e. lithobraking against the runway) seems too ridiculous to wrap my head around.

I mean... isn't helping one to wrapping one's head around this sort of thing what KSP excels at?

You can do this sort of landing on the flats of minmus to save something like 50-100m/s of dV...

Not really worth it other than to do it for the challenge of controlling vertical speed while keeping the craft oriented correctly relative to your horizontal speed, and keeping the craft from flipping as the wheel brakes slowly bring you to a stop.

[kerbiloid]

We must find the flats on the Moon. If any.

For example, we can try to freeze the lunar seas to make it minmus.