I’ve got an uncle that constantly posts conspiracy theories all the time, latest one is
‘The shuttle heats up during reentry at speeds of 16,700 mph’
‘But while leaving earth at speeds of 25,000 mph there’s no heat?’
In: Physics
The shuttle does most of the accelerating high enough that the atmospheric heating is much less severe (but still present). On the way down the fuel tanks are empty so the only option is to slam into the thicker part of the atmosphere to shed speed.
When travelling at mach+ speeds even normal planes heat up. The two most famous are the SR71 Blackbird which leaks fuel on the ground because the seals were made with the thermally expanded plane in mind and the Concorde whose cockpit expanded enough in flight from the heating that on the last flight before decommissioning the pilots could put their hats between two consoles and when the plane landed the hat got permanently stuck as a memento.
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