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by mikeash
3865 days ago
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The purpose of an air bag is to keep your head from smashing into the steering wheel or dashboard at 70MPH because the car stopped but your head kept going. The air bag decelerates you to zero over a (relatively) much greater time, meaning much lower forces on your face, brain, etc. Soyuz lands with a retrorocket and it looks exactly like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2X2kaqYatI You don't need a long burn to cushion a drop like this. A fraction of a second will suffice. |
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