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Re-entry and heat shields

An interactive lesson with 7 steps, about 6 minutes: you predict, drag and solve, with instant feedback on every answer. It runs in your browser and needs JavaScript.

What you’ll learn

• Orbital speed means about 30 MJ of energy per kilogram to shed.
• Most re-entry heating comes from compressed air in the shock wave.
• Blunt shapes and ablative shields protect spacecraft; the entry angle must be just right.

Steps

1. Getting rid of orbital energy
2. Energy per kilogram
3. Not friction
4. Blunt is better
5. Back from the Moon
6. Faster than explosives
7. The entry corridor