But there wasn't a big decrease when the chutes deployed. It took a while. I found that odd. I expected an immediate decrease in speed the second the chutes deployed. Maybe the counter wasn't synched with the video?
> "there wasn't a big decrease when the chutes deployed. It took a while."
They take some time to completely expand. They're actually deployed in a constricted ("reefed") configuration, and then after several seconds they're allowed to fully open.
They're also trying to slow down a large piece of metal -- the booster rockets are about 150 feet long and weigh about 200,000 pounds (empty weight) each. The chutes produce a lot of force, but they're pulling on a lot of mass too (acceleration = force/mass.)
