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

Objects orbit the earth by going really really fast, and as they slow down they will orbit closer and closer to earth then eventually enter the atmosphere.

So the limitation on fuel is true, once the shuttle slow down enough, they will still enter the atmosphere at very high speed.