making sure that the rover will stay in the correct position with the soccers balls

[goldenpeach]

I know that the title don't really make sense but I didn't had the place to put a title that would make sense.

My problem is that using the soccers balls as airbag when landing on a planet can be useful(and fun); however, the contraption tend to turn rapidly and I can't control it.

How can I make sure that the rover(or any other payload) will land in the correct position(i.e the wheel at the bottom)?

Thank you for reading!

[Pecan]

Pretty much you can't, unless there are some 'chutes for stability, in an atmosphere obviously. That means you'll need to build a self-righting mechanism using landing legs or Infernal Robotics.

[goldenpeach]

Oh, well I think I will have to try a lot of different techniques until I find one that make the trick most of the time(maybe that if I add some weight at the bottom it could help?).

Thank you anyway for the answer!

EDIT: ok, the only I found now is by putting a reaction wheel and balls all around the rover so I can make it roll(I should try to make a "rover" that rely on the ball to roll around)

Edited June 14, 2014 by goldenpeach

[Kryxal]

In that case, don't forget your radioisotope power supply, because I don't think you're going to have much luck with solar panels...

[goldenpeach]

Oh right....

I tried my idea with the stock rover(the one with the sky crane) but I forgot the RTG(fortunately there was some batteries).

Just a question: if I make the rover turn like hell before the first "landing", will it make the initial shock softer?

[turkwinif]

Just a question: if I make the rover turn like hell before the first "landing", will it make the initial shock softer?

I would say no, but I may be wrong. This guy had his Duna lander survive going about 310 m/s hitting the surface, and it wasn't spinning.

Edited June 15, 2014 by turkwinif

[xtremespino]

I would say no, but I may be wrong. This guy had his Duna lander survive going about 310 m/s hitting the surface, and it wasn't spinning.

Lithobraking at its finest. Impacting the ground at nearly the speed of sound.