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Enceladus Lander Penetration Model

DOI

Reproducibility package for “Physics-based bounds on vertical lander penetration during Enceladus touchdown” by Christopher Blaszczak-Boxe, Jose Perez-Chavez, Richard Warwick, and Christopher House.

The repository implements transparent screening calculations for bonded-ice deformation, static pressure–sinkage response, and dynamic touchdown penetration. It contains the calculation script, source-data tables, and publication-quality figures used in the revised study.

Scope

The calculations bound vertical deformation and penetration for a reference 500 kg lander under explicitly stated material and contact assumptions. They are screening models, not landing-safety certification. The package does not predict tilt, lateral motion, rebound, differential leg loading, unresolved terrain roughness, or cryogenic rate effects.

Repository layout

  • src/build_figures.py — calculation authority and figure generator.
  • data/ — seven CSV source-data tables.
  • figures/ — four main and three supplementary 3600 × 2400 PNG figures.
  • tests/ — release-integrity checks.
  • MODEL_ASSUMPTIONS.md — equations, reference values, and exclusions.
  • CITATION.cff — machine-readable citation metadata.

Reproduce the figures

Python 3.10 or newer is recommended.

python -m pip install -r requirements.txt
python src/build_figures.py
python -m unittest discover -s tests

The script regenerates every CSV and PNG in place. Each figure has a same-stem CSV file.

Reference configuration

The reference lander mass is 500 kg, Enceladus gravity is 0.113 m s⁻², and four equal circular pads provide 2.0 m² total area. The bonded-ice screen uses an elastic modulus of 9.3 GPa and Poisson ratio 0.33. Granular calculations bracket the effective pressure–sinkage coefficient from 10³ to 10⁵ Pa m⁻ⁿ and explicitly label it as uncalibrated for Enceladus terrain.

Citation and release

The exact v1.0.0 archive is available at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22073535. The concept DOI for all versions is https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22073534. Citation metadata are also provided in CITATION.cff.

Public-release boundary

This repository intentionally excludes the unpublished manuscript, editor decision, reviewer reports, point-by-point response, and project-management matrix. It publishes only the computational materials needed to inspect and reproduce the figures.

License

Released under the MIT License. See LICENSE.

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Reproducible physics-based bounds on vertical lander penetration during Enceladus touchdown.

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