05. At what angle do we have to re-enter the atmosphere to do it safely? (A K2S Question)

From The Space Library

The re-entry angles are extremely important. If our re-entry is too steep, the orbiter will overheat and possibly burn up. If the re-entry is too shallow, the orbiter will skip, like a rock on water, off of the atmosphere. Both cases are very bad. An approximate safe entry attitude is 40 degrees above the horizon. This attitude provides a controlled orbiter outside temperature, no chance of skipping, and is assumed as part of the energy/range calculation for landing.

---

Answer provided by Col. USAF (Ret.) Frederick D. Gregory

Question and Answer extracted from the book Kids to Space - by Lonnie Schorer

Buy This Book Click here