Atmospheric Reentry: Ballistic, Skip, Glide

Now return to Earth, analyzing the problem of decelerating from orbital or escape speed to a gentle touchdown on land or water. Calculate the amount of energy that must be lost during the plunge through the atmosphere, and consider three approaches to reentry, including that of the Space Shuttle, which unfortunately ended tragically for Columbia in 2003. Also look at the dire reentry scenario faced by Apollo 13 in 1970.

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  • Originally Aired May 23, 2017
  • Runtime 34 minutes
  • Created May 28, 2025 by
    ebitcon
  • Modified May 28, 2025 by
    ebitcon