Ummm, parachutes? (1.0.4)

[tg626]

Just slapped a Mk1 capsule, Mk16 parachute, heatshield, and decoupler on top of a "Thumper" SRB.

Launch into a ballistic trajectory. (Launch and then press D during burn for an AP of about 110km)

I can't get the chutes to NOT "burn up due to drag and heat"

Flight 1: Predeploy with MinPressure: 0.40 Alt: 500 (SNAP! Kerbal KIA)

Flight 2: Predeploy with MinPressure: 0.75 Alt: 1000 (SNAP! Kerbal KIA)

Flight 3: Attempt manual deploy at <250 m/s (splash, too late)

Flight 4: Attempt manual deploy at <300 m/s (SNAP! Kerbal KIA)

So... what's the max m/s of the parachute THIS time?

Edited June 24, 2015 by tg626

[imaspacestation]

Anything under supersonic, which I think is around 320m/s? Just how fast are you going when you are about 3km from the ground?

[tg626]

Actually I JUST discovered the "Safe to deploy?" field in the right click menu. So safe recovery just now, at about 230m/s I think it was... Dunno what happened on flight 3 above.

Carry on.

[Sawyer7as]

That actually sounds like a mod idea. Something like a tiny dialog box that pops up over the chute when it is safe to deploy rather than right-clicking the object while flying in. Maybe like a little stop light that has a green and red light and sits on the side of the screen and turns green when you can safely deploy your parachute stage.

[wossname]

I reckon the safe threshold is around the 260m/s mark. If you right click the chute it tells you when it's safe to deploy.

[Moh1336]

I was opening chutes at 280m/s today with out issue, though I tend to aim for 250m/s.

I maybe imagining it, but I think they now take longer to fully deploy or simply don't slow you down a fast.

[RogalDorn]

I don't usually deploy until 220m/s or slower. But because of this my chutes work 99% of the time

[Snark]

That actually sounds like a mod idea. Something like a tiny dialog box that pops up over the chute when it is safe to deploy rather than right-clicking the object while flying in. Maybe like a little stop light that has a green and red light and sits on the side of the screen and turns green when you can safely deploy your parachute stage.

Actually, what would really be useful is if the indicator is not on the chute itself, but rather on its little icon in the staging display. (For example, put a warning red "unsafe" border around the staging icon when it's not OK to stage.)

Because after all, what you actually care about is not "is this particular parachute safe right now" but rather "can I hit the space bar safely now": i.e. "whichever chute is next on the staging sequence".

Would also be less visually disruptive, at least to me (no miscellaneous UI popping up on the ship itself).