I wish they expanded on that in the Halo lore. They have these “orbital drop pods” that contain one soldier and are launched at ridiculous speeds towards the ground for quick battlefield insertion. They never address the sudden decrease in velocity, not a single line of dialogue mentions something like an “inertial dampener”. It’s odd because other systems are typically introduced or hinted at in dialogue, so as to ground the story I guess. (slipspace most notably being their version of FTL travel)
Once nearing the ground, drop pods activate a drag chute (more formally termed a “Drogue Panel”[10]) formed from the upper-most panels. The chute deploys and begins to slow down the pod’s descent. Once about 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) from the ground, a series of computer-controlled retrothrusters engage and rapidly decelerate the pod such that it can impact safely.
Also most (not all) drop pod deployments are used by specialized troop like ODST or spartans:
Of these, the UNSC are particularly reliant on the use of drop pods thanks to the aptly-named Orbital Drop Shock Troopers; specialised shock troops who specialise in the use of drop pods to insert behind enemy lines and conduct special missions.[7][8] Although the ODSTs are the primary users of drop pod insertions in the UNSC, both Spartans and regular Marine forces may also use them.[9]
Right, but the way they’re depicted in the games doesn’t seem nearly enough of a slowdown not to crush the pilot… they would have to slow down to… what, 10m/s to be safe ?
I see your point, but to give that particular game scene plenty of benefit of the doubt: that pod transports a spartan. It is possible that he intensionally disabled the slow deceleration, because he can handle the impact.
Isn’t that what “inertial dampeners” supposedly address?
I wish they expanded on that in the Halo lore. They have these “orbital drop pods” that contain one soldier and are launched at ridiculous speeds towards the ground for quick battlefield insertion. They never address the sudden decrease in velocity, not a single line of dialogue mentions something like an “inertial dampener”. It’s odd because other systems are typically introduced or hinted at in dialogue, so as to ground the story I guess. (slipspace most notably being their version of FTL travel)
They do slow down after a bit:
Also most (not all) drop pod deployments are used by specialized troop like ODST or spartans:
https://www.halopedia.org/Drop_pod
Right, but the way they’re depicted in the games doesn’t seem nearly enough of a slowdown not to crush the pilot… they would have to slow down to… what, 10m/s to be safe ?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CK6qqVX_kOA
I see your point, but to give that particular game scene plenty of benefit of the doubt: that pod transports a spartan. It is possible that he intensionally disabled the slow deceleration, because he can handle the impact.
Yea spartans are supposed to be quite sturdy I reckon. I haven’t read the books but I heard they regularly do crazy shit in them