Why can’t the space shuttle just go slow enough to not be heated up by friction with earths atmosphere on re-entry?
In: 5
First off, why?
Secondly, how would they slow down?
Thirdly, it has to go super fast to stay in orbit. You can’t just hover above a planet or the gravity will pull you in. You have to stay moving fast enough to keep “circling the drain without falling in.” When it’s finally time to de-orbit there’s literally no way to slow down before you hit the atmosphere. There’s nothing to grab onto, no drag because theres no air up there, and trying to use some kind of rocket would add too much extra hardware, fuel and weight to be practical. All you need to do is point yourself at the atmosphere at the correct angle and then gracefully plow into it to dissipate the right amount of momentum so that you drop from orbital speed to landing speed. They’re literally using the whole craft as an air brake, which is the simplest and best way to slow down in air.
Technically ANY friction with the air will generate heat energy. If you stick your arm out of a moving car there is heat energy being generated by the air friction, but it’s so tiny it gets carried away by the air itself. Space craft are much bigger, heavier and faster, so they end up trading their momentum for a bunch of heat energy that temporarily builds up (which they are designed to do) until they slow down enough that the air carries the heat away faster than the friction generates it.
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