Parachute
Parachutes are parts that when deployed slow down the speed of a spaceship in an atmosphere by creating drag.
Usage
Parachutes are commonly used in Kerbin re-entry to slow the spaceship to a landing. They can also be used in Duna to help the landing engines, as they are very inefficient when used alone there.
Parachutes can also be used on Eve, or in any planets atmosphere, to create drag. However, they do fully deploy at a different altitude depending on the atmospheric pressure, rather then the standard 500 on Kerbin. Estimate on Eve full deployment is ~1250m. Parachutes also work on jool, but never fully deploy and hinder movement.
They require a minimum air pressure of 0.01, so it won't work or even deploy in a vacuum.
Parts
There are currently four options for parachutes.
Image | Part | Radial size | Cost () |
Mass (t) |
Max. Temp. (K) |
Tolerance (m/s) |
Tolerance (g) |
Semi-Deployed Diameter |
Fully Deployed Diameter |
Semi-Deploy Pressure (atm) [Note 1] |
Full-Deploy Altitude (m AGL) [Note 1] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mk16 Parachute | Tiny | 422 | 0.1 | 2 500 | 12 | 50 | 0.8 | 20.7 | 0.04 | 1 000 | |
Mk16-XL Parachute | Small | 850 | 0.3 | 2 500 | 12 | 50 | 2.5 | 51.2 | 0.04 | 1 000 | |
Mk2-R Radial-Mount Parachute | Radial mounted | 400 | 0.1 | 2 500 | 12 | 50 | 1.6 | 41.3 | 0.04 | 1 000 | |
Mk25 Parachute | Small | 400 | 0.2 | 2 500 | 12 | 50 | 0.9 | 6.3 | 0.02 | 2 500 | |
Mk12-R Radial-Mount Drogue Chute | Radial mounted | 150 | 0.075 | 2 500 | 12 | 50 | 1.3 | 7.7 | 0.02 | 2 500 |