How would one land on an airless ice world without melting the landing zone?

Question

An ice world like Pluto, enceladus, or Triton may be a problem to land on with rockets. Ice might flash vaporize. What options are there?

Answer 1

Very carefully!

Answer 2

Interesting question... Chances are that it wouldn't melt the ice enough to submerge the spacecraft.. Note that a large portion of the ice is frozen gas so it would simply turn to gas..
but liquids such as water could be a problem, as in that they would quickly refreeze locking landing gear in place and may cause issue upon take off.. Thats if the space ship in question uses one stage for both landing and take off if its two stage like moon lander one for landing one for take off than would be much of a concern.. .
Though the spacecraft would make its one small crater I dont think it would be to the point that the spaceship sink in a lake of its own making... Being as first sated that most the ice is frozen gas and being that the gravity is much less than Earths you would not need all that powerful of a motor..

Answer 3

If you used a rocket exhaust to slow your decent into a hydrogen or methane atmosphere won't the entire atmosphere be ignited by the flames? This is why the Jupiter probes are all bogus! We still only have one sun in this star system!

Answer 4

On those planets the ambient temperature is so cold that even if hot exhaust did melt the ice it would instanteously freeze again. And rocket propulsion is usually given in short bursts not a steady burn. to slow descent

Answer 5

recently NASA landed a probe on mars using airbags for the last stage. (pathfinder probe, remember ?)

Answer 6

I odn't know. A wild guess would be that they can float

Answer 7

crash :)