6 ms·

If only we had an invention that used air resistance to slow falls...

r00fus 5y ago
Do parachutes help when you lose control 50ft off the ground? Deploy time is probably too short. Also lateral speed may be fatal enough with a jetpack.
- nwienert 5y ago
  Body airbags or similar would likely work for lower altitude.
- chipsa 5y ago
  Rocket deployed parachute. Kinda like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cirrus_Airframe_Parachute_System https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cirrus_Airframe_Parachute_Syst... Speeds up deploy time by making the deploy happen, instead of waiting for gravity/airflow to deploy it.
  - FabHK 5y ago
    Still needs a certain minimum height to be effective, >= 400 ft in straight and level flight, 920 ft in a spin [1]. Don't think it would be much use in a jetpack (apart from the fact that the article states that they haven't found a way yet to attach both a jetpack and a parachute, let alone a ballistic one). [1] https://cirrusaircraft.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/CAPS_Guide.pdf https://cirrusaircraft.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/CAPS_G...
notahacker 5y ago
If only that invention wasn't supposed to be strapped to the same part of the person's anatomy as the jetpack, with the result being that no practically working implementation combining the two exists...
- nwienert 5y ago
  That's not an intractable problem by a mile.
  - notahacker 5y ago
    It's also not the solved problem your snark implied. I mean, someone's been working on it for decades and his solution is fly over water as much as possible! (As other posters have alluded to, parachutes won't save you at low altitudes. In the mean time, it's further weight on your back on a device which is already difficult to control, and not really optimal for releasing next to jets of hot kerosene either)
    - kragen 5y ago
      Tens of person-years of work is not as much investment as you are implying in the context of manned heavier-than-air flight. Boeing spends ten person-years on developing flight every 40 minutes on average. Since you wrote your comment 4 hours ago Boeing has spent about 60 person-years on developing flight.
ben_w 5y ago
Parachutes don’t work well enough for this hypothetical. Are there full body airbags? Could that even work?
- HeyLaughingBoy 5y ago
  > Are there full body airbags? Could that even work? Let me know if you find out. I have got to get one :-)
  - FabHK 5y ago
    There is this urban airbag for cyclists, but it protects "only" the head... https://hovding.com https://hovding.com
    - HeyLaughingBoy 5y ago
      Nah! I was picturing a massive bubble with me in the middle so I could jump off the roof and bounce away or something...
      - ben_w 5y ago
        More like this? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zorbing https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zorbing
        HeyLaughingBoy 5y ago
        Those are nice, but I have a feeling if I jumped off the roof in one, I might still break a few ribs!
- kragen 5y ago
  Yes, that will work. It's how Spirit and Opportunity landed on Mars. Many people will die in airbag deployment failures before it works reliably, some of whom would have survived without the airbags, and they will be prohibited in the sort of repressive jurisdictions that prohibit bulletproof vests and gas masks.

Do parachutes help when you lose control 50ft off the ground? Deploy time is probably too short. Also lateral speed may be fatal enough with a jetpack.

nwienert 5y ago
Body airbags or similar would likely work for lower altitude.
chipsa 5y ago
Rocket deployed parachute. Kinda like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cirrus_Airframe_Parachute_System https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cirrus_Airframe_Parachute_Syst... Speeds up deploy time by making the deploy happen, instead of waiting for gravity/airflow to deploy it.
- FabHK 5y ago
  Still needs a certain minimum height to be effective, >= 400 ft in straight and level flight, 920 ft in a spin [1]. Don't think it would be much use in a jetpack (apart from the fact that the article states that they haven't found a way yet to attach both a jetpack and a parachute, let alone a ballistic one). [1] https://cirrusaircraft.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/CAPS_Guide.pdf https://cirrusaircraft.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/CAPS_G...

notahacker 5y ago

If only that invention wasn't supposed to be strapped to the same part of the person's anatomy as the jetpack, with the result being that no practically working implementation combining the two exists...

nwienert 5y ago
That's not an intractable problem by a mile.
- notahacker 5y ago
  It's also not the solved problem your snark implied. I mean, someone's been working on it for decades and his solution is fly over water as much as possible! (As other posters have alluded to, parachutes won't save you at low altitudes. In the mean time, it's further weight on your back on a device which is already difficult to control, and not really optimal for releasing next to jets of hot kerosene either)
  - kragen 5y ago
    Tens of person-years of work is not as much investment as you are implying in the context of manned heavier-than-air flight. Boeing spends ten person-years on developing flight every 40 minutes on average. Since you wrote your comment 4 hours ago Boeing has spent about 60 person-years on developing flight.

ben_w 5y ago

Parachutes don’t work well enough for this hypothetical. Are there full body airbags? Could that even work?

HeyLaughingBoy 5y ago
> Are there full body airbags? Could that even work? Let me know if you find out. I have got to get one :-)
- FabHK 5y ago
  There is this urban airbag for cyclists, but it protects "only" the head... https://hovding.com https://hovding.com
  - HeyLaughingBoy 5y ago
    Nah! I was picturing a massive bubble with me in the middle so I could jump off the roof and bounce away or something...
    - ben_w 5y ago
      More like this? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zorbing https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zorbing
      - HeyLaughingBoy 5y ago
        Those are nice, but I have a feeling if I jumped off the roof in one, I might still break a few ribs!
kragen 5y ago
Yes, that will work. It's how Spirit and Opportunity landed on Mars. Many people will die in airbag deployment failures before it works reliably, some of whom would have survived without the airbags, and they will be prohibited in the sort of repressive jurisdictions that prohibit bulletproof vests and gas masks.