why is atmosphere reentry such an issue? If it is just because of speed hitting the atmosphere why can’t the spacecraft just slow down before and synchronise with earth rotation?
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Your velocity in orbit is the thing keeping your craft in orbit. By slowing down you begin a change of your orbital parameters that leads to a lower and lower orbit, to the point that you begin reentry.
The entire idea of orbit is imagining a cannon capable of firing a ball so fast that its horizontal motion is so much more than its vertical descent that the curvature of the planet drops away faster (or at the same speed) as its ballistic arc.
You could, in theory halt your velocity suddenly and sharply, but at the speeds we’re talking about any tech aboard, or humans, would be crushed to paste by the acceleration.
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