19. At the end of our trip, how will we get back home to Earth? (A K2S Question)

From The Space Library

To return to the Earth's surface from orbit, it is necessary to slow down from the tremendous speed that it takes to maintain an orbit around the Earth. To do that with rocket propulsion would take as much fuel as it takes to get into orbit in the first place. This is impossible with current chemical rocket propulsion. So we use the friction that occurs when the spacecraft encounters the atmosphere to slow it down. Then depending on the spacecraft design, it would fly onto a runway and use parachutes or even small rockets to make a soft touchdown on water or land.

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Answer provided by David Gump & Gary Hudson

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

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