Because parachutes automatically cut once the craft touches the ground or water in vanilla game. To make proper drogue chutes, you'll need a mod, whose name eludes me at the moment.
You can add heat shielding to any part by editing the part's .cfg file. These are located in GameData/<plugin>/Parts/
('squad` is the directory name for default parts)
A part config looks something like this:
PART
{
// stuff
MODULE
{
// stuff
}
MODULE
{
// stuff
}
RESOURCE
{
// stuff
}
RESOURCE
{
// stuff
}
}
To add some capability offered by a mod, you usually add some new MODULE
sections and possibly RESOURCE
sections.
Checking one of DRE's heatshield configs, here are the sections that add shielding:
MODULE
{
name = ModuleHeatShield
direction = 0, -1, 0 // bottom of pod
reflective = 0.05 // 5% of heat is ignored at correct angle
ablative = AblativeShielding
conductivity = 0.01
loss
{ // loss is based on the shockwave temperature (also based on density)
key = 650 0 0 0 // start ablating at 650 degrees C
key = 1000 64 0 0 // peak ablation at 1000 degrees C
key = 3000 80 0 0 // max ablation at 3000 degrees C
}
dissipation
{ // dissipation is based on the part's current temperature
key = 300 0 0 0 // begin ablating at 300 degrees C
key = 500 180 0 0 // maximum dissipation at 500 degrees C
}
}
RESOURCE
{
name = AblativeShielding
amount = 250
maxAmount = 250
}
Add those two sections to your part and tweak the setting to get it right. In addition, you will want to increase the part's maxTemp
. You can set the direction
to 0, 0, 0
to make it shielded from any angle. The AblativeShielding
resource is what starts being used then the heatshield starts ablating (loss
section)
I haven't played around with adding shielding, so I can't help much with the parameters, but the DRE thread should already have plenty of information. Google the thread for a particular parameter with a search query like
direction site:http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/54954-0-90-Deadly-Reentry-v6-5-3-Beta-Mar-6-2015
Best Answer
The 0.625m heat shield is inappropriate for an 1.25m stack. The MK1 cockpit has a diameter of 1.25m.
There is no need to circularize around Kerbin first as other comments suggest. It is perfectly possible to re-enter from an interplanetary trajectory.
19km might be a bit deep, though. I usually aim at 25km for a return from the mun and would not aim deeper for an interplanetary return. I'd say 25-35km should be deep enough to capture but high enough to trouble with overheating, if you have the right heat shield.
Remember that you want to minimize two things: Peak heat flux, and total heat energy absorbed. Coming in too shallow will mean you don't capture (which isn't as bad in KSp as IRL due to unlimited life support), coming in a bit too shallow will mean you spend too much time breaking and absorb too much total heat, and coming in too steep means the peak heat flux is bigger then what your craft can tolerate.
From your description, it is not entirely clear whether or not you had a problem with total heat absorbed or peak heat flux, so react accordingly.
Further good reading is here:
How do you tell if re-entry will destroy your ship?