Parachute is a piece of equipment utilized to retard (slow down) the motion of an object from an atmosphere by creating drag (air resistance or fluid resistance). Parachutes are most commonly made out of nylon cloth. The term “parachute” has derived its name from “para”, meaning “counter” or “against” in Ancient Greek, and “chute”, meaning “fall” in French.
The load of a parachute includes a person, two persons, a bomb, a space capsule, Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Boosters to reuse them, equipment and food. There are several types of parachute such as: - Ram- air types, Ribbon and Ring types, Rogallo wing, Annular and pull- down apex types, cruciform type and round type.
The Renaissance period holds the earliest evidence for the parachute. During this period, parachute design appeared in an anonymous manuscript which depicted a free- hanging man clasping a cross bar frame attached to a conical canopy. Later, Leonardo da Vinci sketched a more sophisticated parachute. According to the Leonardo’s parachute designs, the shape of the parachute was altered from conical to pyramidal. The viability and achievability of Leonardo’s pyramidal design was successfully tested by the British Adrian Nicholas in 2000 and again by another skydiver in 2008.
In late 18th century, modern parachute was discovered by Louis Sebastien Lenormand in France. Later, Jean- Pierre Blanchard established parachute with a dog as the passenger and then he tried himself. Blanchard started making parachute from folded silk, taking benefit of silk’s light weight and strength. In 1797, Garnerin Andre discovered the vented parachute which helped in improving the stability of the fall. In 1911, in a Wright Model B, at Venice Beach, California, Grand Morton made the first parachute jump from an airplane. In 1927, many countries experimented with utilizing parachutes to drop armed forces behind enemy lines. Throughout human history, parachute designs have been revolutionized.
Parachute creates a drag which slows down something or someone from falling down. A drag is the push on something from the water or air. Air doesn’t have much drag as it is thinner than water. The parachute has a very big surface area and is very light in weight. Parachute works on the theory of “Whatever is thrown up always falls down”. Parachute obeys the law of gravity. It has air resistance which protects people or any object from falling down.
Parachute is termed as a safety device as it helps in escaping from aircraft or balloons and flying machines in case of emergencies and difficulties. It slows down the rate of descent and helps one to land safely on the ground. Parachute is utilized for aid purposes such as dropping heavy machinery, medicines, food and other items to war affected areas or at the time of any disaster. It is also used for military purposes, safety and recreational purposes as with skydivers and in case of an air accident.
