the.com/parachuting
Falling with a really good excuse, and a cloth that turns out into oh-thank-god.
means Descending safely from a great height using a fabric canopy that catches air and slows your fall.
from French parachute, coined around 1785: para (guard against) plus chute (fall) — literally a guard against falling.
da VinciSketched a pyramid-shaped chute around 1485.
First jumpGarnerin leapt from a balloon over Paris, 1797.
Terminal velocityFree-fall caps near 120 mph before deployment.