Glide
Glide is the final stage of Planetary Landings. After approaching the exclusion zone of a landable planet or moon in Orbital Cruise, the ship will automatically disengage the Frame Shift Drive, drop from Orbital Cruise, and begin an unpowered glide for the remainder of the descent. The glide maintains a constant speed of 2,500 meters per second. Gliding will automatically end, drop the ship to Normal Speed, and engage Thrusters at an altitude of 3 kilometers.
Pitching too far up will end the glide early and transition the ship into Normal speed. Pitching too far down will result in an emergency drop, causing damage.[1] Similarly, excessive yaw during Gliding will result in the pilot temporarily blacking out from the strain.
Glide will engage only if the entry angle is kept between -5 and -60 degrees while dropping out of Orbital Cruise, and only if the speed is sufficiently low, usually with the throttle inside or below the blue zone; lower speeds are preferable when attempting to land on bodies with low mass and gravity. Hitting the drop point too fast will result in an emergency drop.
Videos
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Horizons Pilot Training
References
- ↑ From orbit down to Europa, David Braben, YouTube