The parachute detaches before it hits the ground!?
Finally, you name something a little bit hairy...
If you have retro rockets for the terminal stage of the landing then it is prudent to jetison the parachutes before engaging the rockets. You dont want the parachute to cover up the escape hatch or catch fire and impede egress. In windy conditions the chute could end up draging you all over the place.
IIRC, the same proceedure was used for the old mars missions. Atmospheric braking to deorbit -> heatsheild jettisoned and chutes deployed at altitude -> parachute detached and retro rockets fired a few hundred feet up -> retro rockets doused and free fall for the last few feet.
Slashdot Mirror
The parachute detaches before it hits the ground!? Finally, you name something a little bit hairy... If you have retro rockets for the terminal stage of the landing then it is prudent to jetison the parachutes before engaging the rockets. You dont want the parachute to cover up the escape hatch or catch fire and impede egress. In windy conditions the chute could end up draging you all over the place. IIRC, the same proceedure was used for the old mars missions. Atmospheric braking to deorbit -> heatsheild jettisoned and chutes deployed at altitude -> parachute detached and retro rockets fired a few hundred feet up -> retro rockets doused and free fall for the last few feet.
umm, you would end up with 2,000,001 downloads then.