Eli5: why can spacecrafts not be slowed down enough to red-enter the atmosphere without burning up?

Question

Eli5: why can spacecrafts not be slowed down enough to red-enter the atmosphere without burning up?

In: 228

Answer 1

Sure, that’s how the Space Shuttle works (worked). Even the modern capsules use this sort of aerobraking, albeit less elegantly than the Space Shuttle. Slowing down using the air is great, because the atmosphere is “free”, it’s already there. Slowing down before entering the air would require energy, like rocket fuel that has been lifted to the orbital region, which is very expensive.