Kerbals die when they fall through the atmosphere and hit the ground or water

[OddFunction]

Kerbals die when they fall through the atmosphere and hit the ground or water.

Idk how they survive a 1,000m/s impact, but perhaps they should not.

[Rath]

They sometimes do. But the Head, jetpack and feet all have weird impact tolerances.

[Sky_walker]

Wasn't it that using RCS backpack and thrusting up pretty much guaranteed your Kerbal to bounce off from the ground?

[Murph]

I'd gladly trade this for the current behaviour where they sometimes explode from jumping down about 1m off an aircraft wing, or sometimes even just letting go of a ladder while already level with the ground!

[Starwhip]

Wasn't it that using RCS backpack and thrusting up pretty much guaranteed your Kerbal to bounce off from the ground?

Related. You use the jetpack to rotate your kerbal so that it hits helmet first.

Also, EVA-ing at the right moment saves you about 50% of the time.

[OddFunction]

Pretty sure I was trying to EVA the whole way down to cushion my fall. It was a failed rescue contract where I decided to bring her home or kill her while trying.

She survived a 30,000m fall into the ocean feetfirst O_O;