parachute not deploying

[tacobopycat]

when i come back thru the atmosphere (very low beginner) the parachute doesnt open, I have it set for .75 and 1000 as the tutorial stated but it's not working. Hlep?

[Drewskii]

Set the parachute up in staging and press space once the parachute icon in the staging is white (or yellow if you basically ♥♥♥♥♥♥ up)

[doum]

Using the beginer solid booster make the ship go point first instead of back. Parachute will not open because you dont loose enough speed before impacting.

[RoofCat]

chute won't open above 280m/s. And if it will be forced, it will be torn off (destroyed). It can also be burned. And sometimes it is hard to notice you haven't even staged it yet. Depends on stage sequence. Just hit the space a few times to be sure.

Slow down in advance, check trajectory, heat and velocity. Make sure you activate stage.

[Enorats]

Hard to say what's happening here without more information. Are you doing a suborbital flight? Are you coming in at an insane speed that doesn't slow down under 280 m/s before you hit the ground?

Are you pressing the staging button (spacebar) to activate the chute?

If you press the spacebar and the chute icons light up but they don't deploy, it's typically because the pressure is too low. You can hit the stage button in space and they'll deploy on their own as soon as it's "safe".

I think most people just press the stage button to deploy chutes when they want the chute to deploy. I put my chutes as the last thing in the staging order and deploy them when I'm slowed down to terminal velocity and close to the ground.

[RoofCat]

Originally posted by Enorats:

...deploy them when I'm slowed down to terminal velocity and close to the ground.

have you seen "terminal velocity" of a 6t slim ship in the 1.25m size approaching the ground from a rather steep trajectory?

Please don't use that word on this forum.

[tacobopycat]

Originally posted by Enorats:

Hard to say what's happening here without more information. Are you doing a suborbital flight? Are you coming in at an insane speed that doesn't slow down under 280 m/s before you hit the ground?

Are you pressing the staging button (spacebar) to activate the chute?

If you press the spacebar and the chute icons light up but they don't deploy, it's typically because the pressure is too low. You can hit the stage button in space and they'll deploy on their own as soon as it's "safe".

I think most people just press the stage button to deploy chutes when they want the chute to deploy. I put my chutes as the last thing in the staging order and deploy them when I'm slowed down to terminal velocity and close to the ground.

Sorry for the trouble; i'm VERY new. I'll try the spacebar thing now, but how would I slow down before I hit the ground? Both my chutes stay red until impact. And when I do hit spacebar in staging, EVERYTHING activates; decouplers, engines, etc/

[ghpstage]

Originally posted by raddude2006:

Sorry for the trouble; i'm VERY new. I'll try the spacebar thing now, but how would I slow down before I hit the ground? Both my chutes stay red until impact. And when I do hit spacebar in staging, EVERYTHING activates; decouplers, engines, etc/

That staging problem is common when your new, even veterans screw it up at times.

When designing your rocket you can see, and change your staging on the right hand side. Stages will activate from bottom to top, you can add a new stage by clicking the + button and you can drag items into stages.

Similarly slowing down can come as a shock, to tell the truth most of whats needed in KSP will be alien to newcomers!
The quickest and easiest method to get started is to make sure you are flying/re-entering at an angle (straight up or down is suicide!) and to use a decoupler to stage the command pod, its parachute and maybe a few experiments. The pod is lightweight and if its largely alone will travel through the air draggy end first making it excellent for easy landings.
Then think about landing bigger things after you have a few successes under your belt.

[A Terrible Modder]

Originally posted by raddude2006:

when i come back thru the atmosphere (very low beginner) the parachute doesnt open, I have it set for .75 and 1000 as the tutorial stated but it's not working. Hlep?

just watch the scottmanly videos on youtube, they are really helpful when first starting out.

[civillian1]

i solved this by wiggeling A LOT

not sure why this worked tough

[Jukelo]

Originally posted by civillian1:

i solved this by wiggeling A LOT

not sure why this worked tough

Without input your rocket will naturally reach its most aerodynamic attitude (given its current mass distribution) as the aerodynamic forces balance out. If you change that attitude (by wiggling) you become less aerodynamic, which causes more drag, which slows you down faster, which helps you reach your chute's opening speed.

[blasty]

Originally posted by civillian1:

i solved this by wiggeling A LOT

not sure why this worked tough

wiggling is an entirely valid method of slowing down, and was actually used in real life by the space shuttle! :D

[Kyle]

Heck of a revival to this old thread, but it is all very true. Parachutes will only open under a certain speed. Wiggling your craft can make drag and slow you down, but also might lead to excessive spinning/being stuck facing the wrong way.

I usually put at least one drogue chute on anything going up too high, or too fast. They make it so much easier to slow down to the speed for the real chutes to open.

[JohnRando]

For the very first launch in career mode, with the limited parts available, you can attach a few mystery goo experiments to the flea booster ; the added drag should slow you down enough to allow for the chute do do its job properly. Wiggling works too ofc, but doesnt yield any science ;)