The test falls the greater distance of the drop, and at the same time is falling within the drag shield, thus the only air resistance is the small velocity difference between the test and the shield. They are timed perfectly so that the two meet at the moment of impact in the decelerator. G. Believe it. One is over Selfridge AFB in Michigan, the other is over Wright Patterson AFB here in Ohio. As I posted earlier, we drop coins and such to evaluate the safety aspects of them hitting someone at the bottom of our shaft.
Coins tumble and quickly reach terminal velocity.
After a 450 fall, they bounce nicely, but that's it. They don't bend or anything. We can't even find a mark on them. Dennis Thompson, Zero-G Facilty Manager, Lewis Research Center, Nasa, USA, Earth.