Why do spacecrafts like the decommissioned Space Shuttles re-enter the atmosphere at such high speeds?

Question

I was just reading an article on the Space Shuttle Columbia tragedy and I began to wonder, why do they need to re-enter the atmosphere at roughly 17,000mph? Why not slow down to a less “burn up on re-entry” speed?

In: 2

Answer 1

Imagine skipping stones across a lake. “Ohhh, I got a 5 skipper!”

Now imagine someone asking, why can’t the stone just slow down on the first touch of water and sink peacefully? Note that throwing the stone directly into the water without skipping creates such a shock that the little people inside that stone will turn to cream.

The space shuttle and other manned objects returning from space also kind of do a little dance when entering the atmosphere. Kind of like a skier doing S turns to control their speed and direction while going downhill.