# Why does the Soyuz parachute pulsate? Tags: soyuz-spacecraft, parachute - Score: 20 - Views: 3429 - Answers: 2 - Answered: yes - Asked by: James Thorpe (1325 rep) - Asked: 2016-06-21 - Site: space ## Question During the recent return of Expedition 47 from the ISS, I noticed the main parachute of their Soyuz capsule pulsating. You can see it in this video: "Flat": "Domed": My wife noted that it looks a little like a jellyfish, moments later I saw this tweet by Alexander Gerst: The "jellyfish breathing" of the parachute feels like sitting in a small boat at sea. Not indicative of what is to come... Is the parachute specifically designed to do this, if so - why? What benefits does it provide? If it's not specifically designed to do this, and it's just a side effect of some other design constraint, what causes it to happen, and is it detrimental to the overall performance of the parachute at all? Perhaps all parachutes of this design/scale behave this way, and I've just never noticed it before? ## Answers ### Answer by Federico (score: 19 [ACCEPTED]) Thanks to the paper linked by Jan Doggen in the comments we can say that it is a natural outcome of the shape of the para

NASA TECHNICAL MEMORANDUM. if NASA TM-75577 PROM SPACE ON A PARACHUTE N. Lobanov Translation of "Iz kosmosa na parashyute," Aviatsiya i Kosmonavtika, No. 9, Sep. 1978, pp. 3^-35 »78-33i~<»0~? Dnclas 33788 NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION WASHINGTON, D.C. 205^6 OCTOBER 1978 STANDARD TITLE PAGE \. Report No. NASA TM-75577 2. Government Accession No. 3. Recipient's Cotolog No. 4. Title ond Subtitle PROM SPACE ON A PARACHUTE 5. Report Dola Oo.t-.nhpT> 1078 6. Performing Organization Coda 7. Author(s) N. Lobanov 8. Performing Orgonizotion Report No. 10. Work Unit No. 9. Performing Orgonixotion Name and Address Leo Kanner Associates Redwood City, California 94063 II. Controct or Gront No. N ASU-11Q Q 13. Type of Report and Period Covered Translation 12. Sponsoring Agency Nome and Address National Aeronautics and Space Adminis tration, Washington, B.C.- 20546 14. Sponsoring Agency Code 15. Supplementary Notes Translation of "Iz kosmosa na parashyute," Aviatsiya i Kosmonavtika, No. 9, Sept. 1978, pp. 3^-35. 16. Abstract ' Improvements in the landing system of the Soyuz spacecraft are discussed. The system of parachutes is designed to guarantee a safe l

Pulsations of the parachute canopy | Journal of Mathematical Sciences | Springer Nature Link # Pulsations of the parachute canopy - Published: July 1994 - Cite this article - Volume 70, pages 2018–2023, (1994) Save article View saved research Journal of Mathematical Sciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript ## Abstract The problem of pulsations of the canopy of a parachute is considered. Equations which are linearized in a neighborhood of the stationary state of motion are given, the algorithm of solution that is based on the composition of the methods of discrete curls and finite differences is described. The results of computations of the characteristics of frequency of the canopy are given in the form of graphs. ### On a Dynamical System that Describes the Motion of a Parachutist ### Numerical Study of the Flow near a Descent Vehicle with the Parachute System’s Canopies in Its Near Wake in Supersonic Motion ### Measurement of the flow structures in the wakes of different types of parachute canopies ## Literature cited S. M. Belotserkovskii and M. I. Nisht, Separated and Non-Separated Flow of Thin Wings by the Ideal Fluid [in Russian], Nauka, Moscow (1978). Google S