Why things easily leave earths atmosphere but burn up while re-entering the same atmosphere
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When you’re leaving Earth’s atmosphere, you are slowest where the atmosphere is the thickest (near the ground). You speed up as you go up, while the atmosphere is thinning out, which means air resistance and compression of the atmosphere is not as significant.
When returning to Earth, the spacecraft is traveling at very high speeds (assuming it was in orbit). The spacecraft will slow itself down a bit in order to stop orbiting and start the re-entry process, but it’s not by a lot. Additionally, once you’re not in orbit, gravity will start to increase your speed instead of just make you orbit. That means that the spacecraft is “accelerating” as the atmosphere gets thicker and thicker (it’s not really getting faster, because the atmosphere is getting in the way and slowing it down, but gravity is still trying to make it go faster, which means that much more air resistance).
In that process of slowing down from the atmosphere, the spacecraft heats up a lot; there is both air resistance/friction and compression of air affecting the spacecraft, as it is traveling so fast that the air in front can’t get out of the way fast enough, and so compresses. Resistance/friction and compression both increase temperatures, which directly heats up the spacecraft to a ridiculous degree. Another way of looking at it is that the spacecraft is losing both velocity (kinetic energy) and height (potential energy) the entire way down; that energy has to go somewhere, so it gets turned into heat.
When you’re leaving Earth’s atmosphere, you are slowest where the atmosphere is the thickest (near the ground). You speed up as you go up, while the atmosphere is thinning out, which means air resistance and compression of the atmosphere is not as significant.
When returning to Earth, the spacecraft is traveling at very high speeds (assuming it was in orbit). The spacecraft will slow itself down a bit in order to stop orbiting and start the re-entry process, but it’s not by a lot. Additionally, once you’re not in orbit, gravity will start to increase your speed instead of just make you orbit. That means that the spacecraft is “accelerating” as the atmosphere gets thicker and thicker (it’s not really getting faster, because the atmosphere is getting in the way and slowing it down, but gravity is still trying to make it go faster, which means that much more air resistance).
In that process of slowing down from the atmosphere, the spacecraft heats up a lot; there is both air resistance/friction and compression of air affecting the spacecraft, as it is traveling so fast that the air in front can’t get out of the way fast enough, and so compresses. Resistance/friction and compression both increase temperatures, which directly heats up the spacecraft to a ridiculous degree. Another way of looking at it is that the spacecraft is losing both velocity (kinetic energy) and height (potential energy) the entire way down; that energy has to go somewhere, so it gets turned into heat.
Atmosphere is denser near the ground and thinner near space. As a rocket goes up, it is accelerating. It’s going slow when it is moving through thick air, and faster only in the thin air. When it reenters, it is going extremely fast, and will hit thicker air while still going faster, unless it wastes a lot of fuel actively decelerating.
Atmosphere is denser near the ground and thinner near space. As a rocket goes up, it is accelerating. It’s going slow when it is moving through thick air, and faster only in the thin air. When it reenters, it is going extremely fast, and will hit thicker air while still going faster, unless it wastes a lot of fuel actively decelerating.
Rockets are going slower on launch. And even then hearing is an issue. Part of the “ Max Q” callout during launch is slowing down during the point of maximum dynamic pressure, aka friction.
At least that’s what Kerbal Space Program taught me
Rockets are going slower on launch. And even then hearing is an issue. Part of the “ Max Q” callout during launch is slowing down during the point of maximum dynamic pressure, aka friction.
At least that’s what Kerbal Space Program taught me
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