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Re:SpaceX successfully lands a Falcon 9 rocket at sea for th... by aerovistae on Saturday May 28, 2016 @11:30AM (#11791981)
Neither of these comments answers the question of how did it survive re-entry, which we have all been taught to imagine as the rocket being immersed in a fireball at horrific temperatures.
Re:SpaceX successfully lands a Falcon 9 rocket at sea for th... by rst on Saturday May 28, 2016 @11:45AM (#11792057)
The particularly high-heat re-entries of manned capsules, the Space Shuttle, and so forth are unpowered; the atmosphere slows the spacecraft down. The Falcon 9 first stage re-entries are powered; three engines light to slow it down. The physics of how this works are complex and a bit counterintuitive, but the upshot is a thermal environment which isn't as brutal as an unpowered re-entry.

Beyond that, the glass in front of that camera's probably formulated to take extreme heat.

And of course, as jdblair points out, it's starting at a slower speed to begin with; faster than just about any aircraft (except maybe the X-15), but well short of orbital velocity.

Re:SpaceX successfully lands a Falcon 9 rocket at sea for th... by jdblair on Saturday May 28, 2016 @11:43AM (#11792049)
Its not just re-entry that makes heat, its re-entry at high speed. The first stage wasn't in orbit. I don't think it had reached orbital velocity and it turned around and fired its engines to reduce its speed even further.

Re-entry from orbit wouldn't just destroy the camera, it would burn up much of the craft as there is no heat shield.