Re: starship-design: Planetary Landing

[Timothy van der Linden <Shealiak@XS4ALL.nl>]

Hi Steve,

>Building an interstellar ship that can take the structural
>stresses of atmospheric entry and landing, and hold enough fuel
>to perform landing and return to orbit, and do this reliably more
>than once, is an amazingly difficult task.

What is so stressful about entering atmosphere or landing when the starship
is capable of hovering above a planets surface (eg. capable of 1 g
acceleration when above Earth's surface)? Such a ship can enter the
atmosphere with virtually zero velocity and land without "bouncing".

Of course when the starship isn't capable of this you may forget my
question. In that case I can see some of the troubles that may arise when
landing a starship.

Timothy