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A comment on Super Heavy has splashed down in The Gulf of Mexico. Parent comment

Re:Super Heavy has splashed down in The Gulf of Mexico by CarVac on Thursday June 06, 2024 @01:28PM (#40600100)
To get a gentler reentry, you need a greater lift-to-drag ratio.

To have a better hypersonic lift-to-drag ratio you need significantly more wing area, which is dead weight (and drag and a control problem) on the way up.

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Re:Super Heavy has splashed down in The Gulf of Mexico by avhon1 on Thursday June 06, 2024 @02:42PM (#40600892)
Exactly! Re-entry is the transition from orbital dynamics to aerodynamics. If you want the transition from orbit to flight to occur at a lower speed, then you need to be able to produce lift equal to your weight at that speed, at the altitude where you will hit that speed.
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Re:Super Heavy has splashed down in The Gulf of Mexico by panick21_ on Thursday June 06, 2024 @02:59PM (#40601114)
That's one of the reason why space planes were preferred for so long. Bleeding of speed while skipping along the atmosphere and then coming in for landing.
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