Re:Blue Origin first human flight
by daveslash on Tuesday July 20, 2021 @11:59AM
(#27895386)
It looked like they were going about 15-16mph when they hit the ground. That looked a bit rough as well. They seem to have done fine, but I can't imagine that it was comfortable.
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Bezos mentioned there's a pocket of air that forms a cushion underneath just before it hits, slowing it to 1 mph at impact. The older woman said she didn't even feel it.
Interesting. As other said, there were retro-rockets that fired. I guess I was just assuming the retro-rockets would be more pronounced - like the gentle landing that the rocket motors perform. Good to know that this wasn't as jarring as it looked.
Re:Blue Origin first human flight
by dredmorbius on Tuesday July 20, 2021 @01:28PM
(#27896607)
That's roughly the speed of a Soyuz landing, which has been described as a "low speed car crash".
Retrorockets fire immediately prior to impact to cushion the blow, but it's still a hard jolt.
I watch it and slowed the clip and it seems there's a rocket boost just before touchdown, if the seats have shock absorbers they probably felt little of the touch down.