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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Even from a simple first principles perspective, the combined kinetic and potential energy of being in orbit is insane. You have to bleed off that excess energy off somehow to return back to the state of “stationary” at ground level. It just so happens that converting all of that energy into thermal energy that you then deal with via heat transfer is the most cost effective alternative.
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