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Is it worth adding parachutes to the lower stages of my rockets?


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As the title says, is it worth adding parachutes to the lower stages of my Kerbin based rockets, or is it just extra weight for no real return?

Mainly I just haven't been able to figure out if the stages I see dropping as the chutes deploy end up getting recovered at the same time I recover whatever is left at the end, or if I haven't been putting enough chutes to slow them down enough.

Any clarification on general parachute working in game would probably be helpful is basically what I'm getting at.

Edited by Repseki
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KSP automatically assumes everything that A) isn't being piloted, B) isn't within 2.5 kilometres of the ship that IS being piloted, and C) is within at least 0.01 atmospheres (about 22 km altitude on Kerbin), crashes.

Putting parachutes on your booster stages is therefore a waste of money and payload capacity.

There are a couple mods which change this behaviour - StageRecovery comes to mind. You can then use a calculator to figure out just how much parachute your empty booster needs to land gently.

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There are a couple mods which change this behaviour - StageRecovery comes to mind. You can then use a calculator to figure out just how much parachute your empty booster needs to land gently.

Just for the record, StageRecovery seems to be a bit generous with the parachute requirements; you typically need fewer parachutes for StageRecovery to reward 100% than you would to land the stage manually.

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KSP automatically assumes everything that A) isn't being piloted, ...

All of the other parts DeMatt said are true, but this bit might be a little misleading. I think he is meaning any ship that you aren't currently in control of. It doesn't matter if you have kerbals on board, if it's being piloted by a probe core, or if it's just pure debris. If the other conditions are met: outside physics range of ~2.5km and below 0.1 atm (~23km on Kerbin) will be deleted with no funds being recovered. This is true for any atmospheric body, it's just that the altitude cutoff differs by planet/moon based on the atmosphere.

That being said, if you can jettison your stages above 22km (with a little upward trajectory) you can sometimes have enough time to get your main craft in orbit, then switch back to your dropped stage to watch it parachute down. That would allow it to land and you can recover it for funds. If you can't or don't want to do that, you'll have to find a mod that fits what you'd like. There are add-ons that refund money (as have been mentioned) and there are add-ons that extend the physics range beyond the ~2.5km.

Cheers,

~Claw

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You also cannot switch from your main craft until you leave the atmosphere (69 km or so). I found the most reliable way of being able to do this is to only expect recovery on the last stage ejected before gaining orbit. It still is a bit risky though and takes a bit of planning. I've had quite a few larger stages mostly destroyed when landing, even with plenty of chutes. Once the stage hits the ground (or water in my case) it topples over and most of the parts disintegrate... Normally, it doesn't destroy my chutes, so the additional investment in the craft is returned. Well, except for the extra dV required.

Will try to place the chutes closer to CoM on an empty stage next time to try and situate it horizontally next time.

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I have stage recovery and I set the attempt powered recovery off. I then put chutes on the lower stages and assume the final stage will be lost.

I either ditch it before circularizing or put a core or remote module and disabled battery on it so I can do a disposal burn later.

In the event it is in an orbit with the pe above 22km and below 69km I will switch to it later and "ride" it into Kerbin. Such objects will otherwise orbit forever even though they *should* decay.

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