Landing uncontrolled probes on airless bodies

Described in this paper is a method to place uncontrolled probes on the surface of an airless body such as the moon with tolerable impact loads. The main advantage of this concept is that the probe does not require a control system, which will reduce cost and mass significantly. The method uses careful trajectory control and a small solid rocket to cause the probe to drop to the surface from less than a few hundred meters altitude. The impact loads will be attenuated by the deformation of a combination of both the natural surface and the probe itself; this paper treats the attenuation provided by the natural surface.