Safe Landing

Welcome, Captain. Your mission is to ensure the safe landing of a reusable space craft. Usually, these land on an offshore platform, but this one is heading for a lawn. Oh well! In front of you is a three stage challenge. As the spacecraft successfully descends past each stage, you will be awarded points. Both, the spacecraft location and the color of the handle, signify the current status of your mission.

In the instruction video, you can observe how the puzzle is first set up, and how a robot can potentially solve it. This robot was constructed mostly using LEGO BOOST Creative Toolbox. The whole model, during setup with maximum extension, measures a total of 11 inches in height, although the robot never needs to reach that high. Each level has a color tile (or equivalent), in case you employ the use of sensors.

A side note: I was surprised about the importance of testing for stability. Each stage has brakes/stoppers and additional bricks to ensure consistency.