From: earlcp@idirect.com   
      
   deja@celticbear.com (LRW) :   
      
   > I'm just an average person with an English degree, so I'm unfamiliar   
   > with the science and physics and space craft reentry, so this is   
   > likely a very stupid question.   
   >   
   > But it's my uneducated understanding that returning space craft, like   
   > all objects entering our atmosphere, super-heat from the friction of   
   > falling through our atmosphere.   
   > Which is why all crafts from Apollo to the space shuttles must have   
   > carefully crafted heat shields and enter at a VERY narrow angle to   
   > prevent either burn-up or "skipping" off the atmosphere.   
   >   
   > Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't the commercial SpaceShipOne   
   > reach the very edge of the atmosphere? Doesn't it also need the   
   > observe the same careful considerations for reentry?   
   > If not, why? In simple "Physics for English Majors" language. =)   
      
   The simple answer is that while it is going almost as high as some orbital   
   craft did in the past, it is not going as fast as a true orbital craft so it   
   does not see as much heat.  That is why you will see it refered to as an   
   sub-orbital spaceship.   
      
                Earl Colby Pottinger   
      
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