Why do things break up as they enter our atmosphere (ex. meteor)? Are those same forces at play when something exits our atmosphere (ex. shuttle launch)?
In: Physics
Meteors enter our atmosphere at ridiculous speeds: **more that 10 kilometers per second**. They go so fast that air just can’t get out of the way and get compressed to very high pressures, which makes it insanely hot.
Things leaving the atmosphere don’t go quite as fast which is why they don’t burn up. Objects comming back from orbit go fast too, typically around 7km/s if from the ISS so they heat up too
If my memory is good, it’s the rapid compression of air in front that turns it to plasma and that heat gets transferred to the rock and eats away at it
Could be wrong
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