when space craft “burn up” in the atmosphere and vaporize, where do all the tons of metal go?

Question

when space craft “burn up” in the atmosphere and vaporize, where do all the tons of metal go?

In: 3

Answer 1

As it burns, the spaceship turns into smoke particles. These particles will generally slowly settle back down to earth as dust. Most of the metals will turn into metal oxide atoms (burn and combine with oxygen). Other parts of the spaceship such as carbon fiber or plastic may turn into a gas like CO2 instead of dust.