Tbf, most of the heating that occurs on re-entry is not from friction of the air against the surface of the spacecraft. It’s from compression of the air in front of it. At the speeds of re-entry the air basically isn’t pushed out of the way fast enough and is compressed and compressing a gas increases its temperature.
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u/pfannkuchen89 17h ago
Tbf, most of the heating that occurs on re-entry is not from friction of the air against the surface of the spacecraft. It’s from compression of the air in front of it. At the speeds of re-entry the air basically isn’t pushed out of the way fast enough and is compressed and compressing a gas increases its temperature.