In movies at least, astronauts in desperate times have mentioned that unless they get to a certain angle or re-entry window, they would bounce off the atmosphere into space. What’s the science behind that? What conditions have to be perfect for re-entry and why?
In: Physics
The space craft itself still has wings to facilitate flight while in the atmosphere. In space it means nothing since there’s no air…
But as they start entering air they need to slow down – they use heat shields on the bottom of the craft and just hit the atmosphere to let drag slow them down. This means that their wings are now hitting air at an high angle of attack and that causes lift to happen which would push them up away from earth. This is the “bounce” effect. Gotta get the angle right for that.
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