History Main / FrictionlessReentry

* A stock ending for ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'' games is for Sonic to fall to the planet after blowing up a space station. ''Sonic 2'' shows Sonic actually fly to space on the outside of a ship. ''Sonic Adventure 2'' partly corrects the astronomy by making it possible for characters to die if they hit the atmosphere (Eggman even uses it in an attempt to [[spoiler:eliminate Sonic]]). However, the atmosphere's height varies according to how high the platforms above it are.

*** Kira Yamato is forced to try to re-enter in the Aile Strike as he deployed to defend the Archangel and shuttles shortly before their re-entry. His shield melts up before the Archangel (which deploys a similar heatproof film as the White Base) maneuvers to catch it atop one of its legs. This saves Kira from the worst of it, but he's still cooked inside the Strike and suffers for it once they make planet-side. It's made quite clear he would never have survived if he wasn't a genetically-engineered superhuman.

** Contrary to popular belief, Friction contributes a relatively little amount of heat to reentry. The majority of the heat generated is actually from atmospheric compression, the spacecraft is moving so fast that the air in front of it can't get out of the way fast enough, so it gets squeezed, and when you squeeze a gas, you increase its temperature. Most spacecraft do this ''on purpose'', as it's the easiest and cheapest way to slow the craft down enough that it doesn't [[NotTheFallThatKillsYou vaporize on contact with the surface of the planet]].

* Averted in the [[WesternAnimation/PixarShorts ''Cars Toon'']] "Moon Mater", which is about [[WesternAnimation/{{Cars}} Mater]] becoming a moon rover as part of a moon mission to rescue an "autonaut" named [[PunnyName Impala XIII]], who was trapped inside a crater on the Moon. On the way back to Earth, Mater (while narrating) actually adds his friend Lightning [=McQueen=] into his story, since [=McQueen=] thinks that Mater is making things up. Lightning [=McQueen=] is portrayed here as a reentry probe, and as he is heading back toward Earth, his body starts to heat up rapidly because of friction, and as a result he start screaming "Ow! Hot! Hot! Hot! Hot! Hot!" before finally landing in the ocean and sighing in relief.

* Averted in ''Film/{{Guardians Of The Galaxy}}''. When Ronan's spaceship enters the atmosphere of a planet, the surface of the ship glows red-hot. It's such a massive ship, however, that its sheer mass allows it to continue with no ill effects.

* [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] in Season 2 of ''Series/TheMandalorian''. Typically in ''Franchise/StarWars'' there are no reentry effects to speak of, and this is [[JustifiedTrope justified]] by all the ships having [[AntiGravity repulsorlifts]] and other exotic drive systems that allow them to enter a planetary atmosphere at whatever speed they choose. In this case however the ''Razor Crest'' is so heavily damaged that many of those systems are offline, or can only be relied upon for a few seconds, and so the Mandalorian chooses to re-enter the old-fashioned way, complete with plasma flares and communications interference, only activating his propulsion systems mere seconds before impact. [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome The ship still crashes]], but at a slow enough speed to be survivable.

** Amusingly averted in ''[[VideoGame/MarioKart Mario Kart Wii]]'', where falling off Rainbow Road will result in your character lighting up as they plummet towards the earth, and they'll be smoking when Lakitu returns them to the track.

* Most HSD spaceships in ''RankAmateur'' are designed to be aerodynamic so they can aerobrake without getting damaged. Human/Earth Authority ships are either designed either with landing capability or to never enter atmospheres. The latter type would burn up on atmospheric entry.

* Averted in the final mission of ''VideoGame/{{Battletech}}'', where TheDragon's SpheroidDropship is sabotaged on approach to the planet and enters a uncontrolled descent, cooking the insides and killing everyone aboard. While the ship was able to break enough that it avoids just bursting mid-air, the ensuing burning wreck quickly [[StuffBlowingUp makes an uncontrolled landing]] since it no longer has any living crew.

* Averted in ''Fanfic/{{Origins}}'', a ''Franchise/MassEffect''[=/=]''Franchise/StarWars''[[spoiler:[=/=]''[=Borderlands=]''[=/=]''[=Halo=]'']] MassiveMultiplayerCrossover. Samantha Shepard discusses the fact that orbital space-jumping requires specialized hardware. It's noted that the PowerArmor in question has DeflectorShields to avoid burning up (as well as deflecting incoming fire), and AntiGravity to make sure the landing isn't fatal. She even describes having to do an orbital insertion to earn her N7, and knowing ''Mass Effect'''s tendency toward the [[SlidingScale/MohsScaleOfScienceFictionHardness "harder" end of the scale]] she probably had to deal with the heat of reentry, in far less-advanced armor to boot.

* Averted in ''Fanfic/{{Origins}}'', a ''Franchise/MassEffect''[=/=]''Franchise/StarWars''[[spoiler:[=/=]''[=Borderlands=]''[=/=]''[=Halo=]'']] MassiveMultiplayerCrossover. Samantha Shepard discusses the fact that orbital space-jumping requires specialized hardware. It's noted that the PowerArmor in question has DeflectorShields to avoid burning up (as well as deflecting incoming fire), and AntiGravity to make sure the landing isn't fatal. She even describes having to do an orbital insertion to earn her N7, and knowing ''Mass Effect'''s tendency toward the [[MohsScaleOfScienceFictionHardness "harder" end of the scale]] she probably had to deal with the heat of reentry, in far less-advanced armor to boot.

* In ''Manga/GetterRobo Armageddon'', this is averted as the Getter Team and Shin Getter is thought lost when their attempt to destroy Ganymede is foiled and they're launched back to Earth when their own Stoner Sunshine is reflected back at them. They're unable to reright themselves as they enter the atmosphere and it's feared that they've burnt up. Thankfully, Shin Dragon saves the day.

* In ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' storyline ''ComicBook/StrangersAtTheHeartsCore'', the narration mentions ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} can feel the friction heat when she plunges into the Earth atmosphere after a space trip, but she suffers no harm whatsoever.
-->'''Narrator:''' ''Soaring through space and down into the atmosphere of the blue planet Earth, the Mighty Maid of Krypton feels the friction heat of the air rush past her... But she experiences no pain, this invulnerable girl, and though she returns home, her thoughts are still millions of miles away...''

** During the very first X-Wing book, Corran actually uses a planet's atmosphere to damage a TIE fighter by luring it close enough to the planet during a dogfight to cause reentry heat to begin building up.

* Averted in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam,'' given the RealRobot setting of the series. In the first case, Zeon forces don't actually expect the Gundam to be able to make it through reentry...because their own Zakus ''can't'', which is demonstrated by the unlucky pilot Crown and his Zaku melting and shedding parts when he can't make it back to the Musai. The Gundam surprises the Zeon forces by deploying a 'heatproof film' and surviving to make landfall.

** [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED Kira Yamato]] is forced to try to re-enter in the Aile Strike as he deployed to defend the Archangel and shuttles shortly before their re-entry. His shield melts up before the Archangel (which deploys a similar heatproof film as the White Base) maneuvers to catch it atop one of its legs. This saves Kira from the worst of it, but he's still cooked inside the Strike and suffers for it once they make planet-side. It's made quite clear he would never have survived if he wasn't a genetically-engineered superhuman.
*** Interestingly, when Kira sends the Freedom Gundam through the atmosphere as part of his BigDamnHeroes[=/=]HesBack moment, the Freedom nor Kira suffer from this. It's implied that the Phase Shift Armor that runs through the suit was sufficient enough to survive; the Freedom had the advantage of having near-unlimited energy with its N-Jammer Canceller and a clear-minded Kira at the controls, while the first time Kira went catatonic after the Duel destroyed a civilian shuttle he tried to protect and the Strike is battery powered, thus it wasn't sure how long it could survive.

** While its re-entry does generate a lot of heat, the YF-19 shows just how far craft have come by the time of ''Anime/{{Macross Plus}}'', since it not only makes a safe re-entry but does so completely unpowered and spinning uncontrollably while trying to avoid the orbital defense satellites.

* Averted in ''[[FanFic/SovereignGFCOrigins Origins]]'', a ''Franchise/MassEffect''[=/=]''Franchise/StarWars''[[spoiler:[=/=]''[=Borderlands=]''[=/=]''[=Halo=]'']] MassiveMultiplayerCrossover. Samantha Shepard discusses the fact that orbital space-jumping requires specialized hardware. It's noted that the PowerArmor in question has DeflectorShields to avoid burning up (as well as deflecting incoming fire), and AntiGravity to make sure the landing isn't fatal. She even describes having to do an orbital insertion to earn her N7, and knowing ''Mass Effect'''s tendency toward the [[MohsScaleOfScienceFictionHardness "harder" end of the scale]] she probably had to deal with the heat of reentry, in far less-advanced armor to boot.

-->'''Wash:''' Re-entry is about to get interesting.
-->'''Mal:''' Define "interesting."
-->'''Wash:''' (deadpan) 'Oh God, oh God, we're all gonna die!'

* Averted in ''Film/{{Apollo 13}}'' as TruthInTelevision. The question of if they'll be able to survive reentry at all is a major source of tension at the end of the film.

* Averted in ''Literature/UseOfWeapons''. When a Culture module wants to make a swift getaway from a planet's surface, it displaces ([[TeleportersAndTransporters teleports]]) away the air in front of it to behind it as fast as it's moving. It thus makes a multi-mach trip to orbit through a nice, frictionless, self-created vacuum. Of course, Literature/TheCulture are SufficientlyAdvancedAliens.

** In ''[[ComicBook/XWingSeries X-Wing: Starfighters of Adumar]]'', it's noted that an X-Wing's shields protect it from reentry. Thus, Wedge can maintain a higher speed on his entry to Adumar's atmosphere than the unshielded Blades escorting him can.

** The Corellia trilogy sees a New Republic Intel agent crashing her ship on Corellia, noting as she does so that most ships are designed to survive the heat of a ballistic re-entry - but only once. They're intended to have functional engines to slow them down before they hit the atmosphere.

* A stock ending for ''SonicTheHedgehog'' games is for Sonic to fall to the planet after blowing up a space station. ''Sonic 2'' shows Sonic actually fly to space on the outside of a ship. ''Sonic Adventure 2'' partly corrects the astronomy by making it possible for characters to die if they hit the atmosphere (Eggman even uses it in an attempt to [[spoiler:eliminate Sonic]]). However, the atmosphere's height varies according to how high the platforms above it are.

* Averted in ''[[FanFic/SovereignGFCOrigins Origins]]'', a ''MassEffect''[=/=]''StarWars''[[spoiler:[=/=]''[=Borderlands=]''[=/=]''[=Halo=]'']] MassiveMultiplayerCrossover. Samantha Shepard discusses the fact that orbital space-jumping requires specialized hardware. It's noted that the PowerArmor in question has DeflectorShields to avoid burning up (as well as deflecting incoming fire), and AntiGravity to make sure the landing isn't fatal. She even describes having to do an orbital insertion to earn her N7, and knowing ''Mass Effect'''s tendency toward the [[MohsScaleOfScienceFictionHardness "harder" end of the scale]] she probably had to deal with the heat of reentry, in far less-advanced armor to boot.

* Averted in ''Film/{{Apollo 13}}'' as TruthInTelevision.

[[folder: Real Life]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

* Averted in ''Literature/EndersGame'' when [[spoiler: Ender's]] fighters are trying to get in to the range where the [[EarthShatteringKaboom planet-destroying "Doctor Device"]] can be fired. It's explicitly stated that the fighters aren't designed for reentry.

** Also comes up in the final battle of ''Anime/MacrossFrontier: [[TheMovie Sayonara no Tsubasa]]'' when it's commented that the Macross Quarter will burn up if they enter the atmosphere at full speed. So they make sure to get behind a large piece of debris to use as a heat shield. [[CrazyAwesome Which they proceed to]] ''[[SkySurfing sky surf]]''.