parachute

parachute, device that slows the vertical descent of a body falling through the atmosphere or the velocity of a body moving horizontally. The parachute increases the body’s surface area, and this increased air resistance slows the body in motion. Parachutes have found wide employment in war and peace for safely dropping supplies and equipment as well as personnel, and they are deployed for slowing a returning space capsule after reentry into Earth’s atmosphere. They are...