re-entering the atmosphere

I have a Question..When you are re-entering earths atmosphere and there is a lot of heat is the heat from the friction from going so fast or is it just how hot the atmosphere is...Would it be as hot if the space craft went at a slower speed?

Take the time to research.This link I got in 2.3 seconds

Chris

I'm not an authority on the subject, but I think it's friction.

No, it probally wouldn't get hot if the craft were going at a slower speed, but since gravity has a constant pull, it would take quite a lot of retro thrust to slow it, would it not?

[Edited on 1-29-2004 by dunkleskates]

arrrrgggghhhhhh... me thinks our scallywag dunkle's been smokin too much of his there avatar me hearties... arrrggggghhhhh...

Here's how Burt Rutan's private spaceship will avoid extreme reentry heat - basically by going very slow, or relatively slow compared to most spacecraft.

"Traditionally, there have been two dangerous strategies for returning a spacecraft to Earth: the high-speed, heat-intensive, straight-down drops such as those used in the Apollo program, and the precarious, controlled flights of the shuttle. Rutan has devised an ingenious third method for SpaceShipOne. During descent, the entire wing structure of the ship will tilt upwards about 70 degrees, making the entire craft look like a peacock lifting its tail. The wings control and guide the craft as it drops from space, while the fuselage acts as a giant air brake, slowing the ship's descent. The drop is inherently stable, Rutan says: It doesn't require precision maneuvering like the shuttle, and even though the ship hits Mach 3 on the way down (far slower than the Shuttle's re-entry speed), the airbrake system eliminates the need for thick heat shields. At 80,000 feet, the wings return to a level position, and SpaceShipOne returns to Earth as a glider. "

www.popsci.com...

Home page for his X-Prize spaceship project with great movies for high-bandwidth connections:

www.scaled.com...

Best of luck to the Rutan team. I think they're going to win!

Take a look at the variety of techniques each team will try to solve the problems of achieving orbit and safe reentry at the official x-prize webpage:

www.xprize.org...

[Edited on 29-1-2004 by Condorcet]

damn, that's pretty cool.

good job, Condorcet

Really cool...Could they use this to bring Helium-3 back from the moon without it exploding?

Originally posted by Condorcet
Here's how Burt Rutan's private spaceship will avoid extreme reentry heat - basically by going very slow, or relatively slow compared to most spacecraft.

"Traditionally, there have been two dangerous strategies for returning a spacecraft to Earth: the high-speed, heat-intensive, straight-down drops such as those used in the Apollo program, and the precarious, controlled flights of the shuttle. Rutan has devised an ingenious third method for SpaceShipOne. During descent, the entire wing structure of the ship will tilt upwards about 70 degrees, making the entire craft look like a peacock lifting its tail. The wings control and guide the craft as it drops from space, while the fuselage acts as a giant air brake, slowing the ship's descent. The drop is inherently stable, Rutan says: It doesn't require precision maneuvering like the shuttle, and even though the ship hits Mach 3 on the way down (far slower than the Shuttle's re-entry speed), the airbrake system eliminates the need for thick heat shields. At 80,000 feet, the wings return to a level position, and SpaceShipOne returns to Earth as a glider. "

www.popsci.com...

Home page for his X-Prize spaceship project with great movies for high-bandwidth connections:

www.scaled.com...

Best of luck to the Rutan team. I think they're going to win!

Take a look at the variety of techniques each team will try to solve the problems of achieving orbit and safe reentry at the official x-prize webpage:

www.xprize.org...

[Edited on 29-1-2004 by Condorcet]

so....they would be re entering for about 14 days or something? In order to make a "slow" re entry you are basically committing yourself to numerous gradually spiralling orbits, so if you can afford (have the oxygen and fuel) to orbit in smaller and smaller paths you can come in without burning up. And that's NECESSARY. Because of orbital mechanics. I don't care if your wings spread like a peacock, or a flag comes out of your ass...the mechanics are still going to be there. Large decrease in speed (i.e. high re-entry speeds) large orbital changes, small decrease in speed (i.e. low re-entry speeds), small orbital changes.