Atmospheric reentry
Atmospheric reentry is the return of a spacecraft or piece of debris into Earth's atmosphere, where friction and compression heat it to thousands of degrees.
Small satellites and rocket stages usually burn up completely, while dense parts of larger objects can survive to reach the surface.
Crewed capsules use heat shields and precise entry angles to slow down safely; uncontrolled debris reentries are hard to pin to an exact time and place.
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Related terms
- Perigee — Perigee is the point in an orbit around Earth where the satellite is closest to the planet.
- Kessler syndrome — Kessler syndrome is a scenario in which collisions between orbiting objects create debris that triggers more collisions, cascading until parts of low Earth orbit become hazardous to use.
- Orbital period — The orbital period is the time a satellite takes to complete one full orbit, set almost entirely by its altitude.
