History Main / FrictionlessReentry

* The {{Macross}} franchise does deal with the friction of re-entry on occasion.

** While it does generate a lot of heat the YF-19 shows just how far craft have come in {{Macross Plus}} since it not only makes a safe re-entry but it does so completely unpowered and spinning uncontrollably while trying to avoid the orbital defence satellites.
** Also comes up in the final battle of MacrossFrontier [[TheMovie Sayonara no Tsubasa]] when its 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 Then they proceed to]] ''[[SkySurfing sky surf it]].''

* Averted in two instances in the ''StarWars'' films:
** ''RevengeOfTheSith'' has the "not to worry, we are still flying ''half'' the ship" incident, wherein they even have firefighting ships swoop in alongside to put out the fires of reentry before Anakin [[ComingInHot crash-lands]].
** In ''TheEmpireStrikesBack'', the probe droid sent to Hoth becomes a meteorite.
*** This may be an InvokedTrope (or a case of FridgeBrilliance at least), since [[StarWarsExpandedUniverse EU]] materials seem to indicate ships normally don't glow on reentry. The logic would be "ships don't glow" → "object glows" → "object is not a ship".
** See also the StarWarsExpandedUniverse examples below.

* If reentry is actually shown in the Franchise/StargateVerse, the trope is usually averted. This is used to the heroes' advantage in the ''Series/StargateSG1'' episodes "Nemesis" and "Enemies", when they scuttle the Asgard vessel overrun with Replicators by disabling the shields and performing an uncontrolled re-entry. It should be noted that doing this requires the assistance of Thor (telling them exactly where to place all of the charges to both disable the engines that control reentry and to disable the shields).
** Also averted with a vengeance in "Enemies", where Apophis is killed on board a Ha'tak full of replicators by disabling the engines used to decelerate after leaving hyperspace, disabling the shields, and letting it crash into a planet (after SG-1 safely evacuates of course).
** It's used to their disadvantage in ''Last Stand'', where the enemy tracks Jacob & Daniel's cloaked ship by the heat of its reentry.
* In ''Series/StargateAtlantis'', the episode "Lifeline" has [=McKay=] explains that even with the ZPM powering the shields, too steep a descent during atmospheric re-entry could overtax it and cause the shield to fail, while even with it in place, the incredible turbulence could cause the city to break into a million pieces long before it crashes into the surface.
* Averted in ''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003'', where we get to see [[spoiler: The Galactica]] dropping through the atmosphere like a giant superheated rock in one episode as part of an AirstrikeImpossible.
** More on an inversion - Galactica wasn't moving anywhere near fast enough for reentry friction, and Vipers were able to leave Galactica without themselves experiencing reentry friction.
* Generally averted in ''{{Series/Firefly}}''. Entering the atmosphere is described as a fairly rough and sometimes dangerous act for the ''Serenity'', though the latter is more due to her [[TheAllegedCar state of disrepair]] than the actual heat of reentry. Wash's talent for piloting and Kaylee's talent for [[WrenchWench rapidly jury-rigging repairs]] for failing systems are able to compensate for Mal's lack of talent for making enough money to properly maintain his ship.

* Inverted (and thus, still wrong) in the first ''AustinPowers'' film: Dr Evil's Big Boy rocket begins to reheat the instant it starts to head downwards from orbit.

* Averted in ''TheNightsDawnTrilogy'' by Creator/PeterFHamilton. During an orbital engagement, one of the mercenary starships grazes the atmosphere to destroy the missiles chasing it, as they're designed for deep space (the starship was also designed for space, but was spherical). Even with being relatively aerodynamic, having internal strengthening forcefields, and only using the upper atmosphere, the ship was nearly destroyed.

* Averted in ''Series/BattlestarGalacticaReimagined'', where we get to see [[spoiler: The Galactica]] dropping through the atmosphere like a giant superheated rock in one episode as part of an AirstrikeImpossible.

* Fully {{Averted| Trope}} in''VideoGame/KerbalSpaceProgram'' as of version 1.0, which adds heating to the previously present slowdown effects of drag, necessitating heat shields to prevent burning up on re-entry. Note that the same effects can be achieved by ''any'' high-speed atmospheric travel, not just re-entry.

* If reentry is actually shown in the Franchise/StargateVerse, the trope is usually averted. This is used to the heroes' advantage in the ''Series/StargateSG1'' episodes "Nemesis" and "Enemies", when they scuttle the Asgard vessel overrun with Replicators by disabling the shields and performing an uncontrolled re-entry.

** Also averted with a vengeance in "Enemies", where Apophis is killed on board a Ha'tak full of replicators by disabling the engines used to decelerate after leaving hyperspace, disabling the shields, and letting it crash into a planet.

* As of version 0.24, ''VideoGame/KerbalSpaceProgram'' does not have re-entry ''heating'', but otherwise averts this trope: graphical effects are present, and an atmosphere can be used to perform aerobraking. In fact, being able to benefit from re-entry without worrying about heat could be considered a bit of a GameBreaker compared to real world re-entry because you can plunge a spacecraft deep into the atmosphere of Jool [[note]]Think "green Jupiter"[[/note]] and use it to bring your ship into an orbit instead of escaping Jool back into the solar system.

* Zig-Zagged in ''Main/StarTrekBridgeCommander''. Moving too close to a planet will cause an orange, fiery halo to appear around your shields - even if your shields are down - until you splat into the planet. No matter how fast you're travelling, though, you'll never burn up or suffer damage unless you actually hit the planet. Given that planets in this sector are about 200km in diameter, they don't have very thick atmospheres.

* ''[[{{Elite}} Frontier: First Encounters]]'' got it averted, in that a manual landing requires to keep an eye on approach velocity and either your ship has Atmospheric Shielding installed (and it's tough enough to work as armor) or the next reentry will end rather [[StuffBlowingUp prematurely and spectacularly]].

* Averted in ''TheNightsDawnTrilogy'' by PeterFHamilton. During an orbital engagement, one of the mercenary starships grazes the atmosphere to destroy the missiles chasing it, as they're designed for deep space (the starship was also designed for space, but was spherical). Even with being relatively aerodynamic, having internal strengthening forcefields, and only using the upper atmosphere, the ship was nearly destroyed.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', unusually for a comedy series, does this right: When Bender the robot falls to Earth from space, he's hot enough to instantly melt snow several meters away. Justified since he's made of Dolemite, which incredibly heat resistant and tough. Bender is made of just enough that he can swim around in magma from the Earth's core for short periods and only be somewhat negatively affected.

* As of version 0.23.5, ''VideoGame/KerbalSpaceProgram'' only averts the trope visually, as there are graphical reentry effects (and sonic boom funnels), but they have no practical effect on the craft. There are plans to add actual reentry effects to the game in future updates, and there are mods available that do the same.

For any spacecraft which travels through the Earth's atmosphere, there's a critical thing which needs to be considered beforehand. Space travel is ''fast'', and hitting the atmosphere at the kind of speed you'd have in orbit will make your spacecraft ''hot.'' Very hot [[note]]though despite the trope name, this is not primarily due to friction, but to the compression of air in front of the spacecraft as the spacecraft plows through[[/note]]. If you attempt to plow through the air without sufficient shielding, disaster could (and indeed, horrifically, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Columbia_disaster did at one point]]) occur.

* ''VideoGame/KerbalSpaceProgram'' [[ObviousBeta currently]] only averts the trope visually, as there is are graphical reentry effects (and sonic boom funnels), but they have no practical effect on the craft. There is [[http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/showthread.php/21050-0-17-Re-entry-Heat-Module-and-Mk-1-Pod-Heat-Shields/page6 a mod]] available that adds actual reentry effects, and there are plans to add it into the game in future updates.

* Most of the ''{{Kirby}}'' games are like this.
* Averted in ''{{Freelancer}}''. Planets have docking rings to guide them safely to the surface and any ship attempting direct entry to a planet will flare up and eventually be destroyed. Of course, it is also an example of GameplayAndStoryIntegration.

* Zig-Zagged in ''StarTrekBridgeCommander''. Moving too close to a planet will cause an orange, fiery halo to appear around your shields - even if your shields are down - until you splat into the planet. No matter how fast you're travelling, though, you'll never burn up or suffer damage unless you actually hit the planet. Given that planets in this sector are about 200km in diameter, they don't have very thick atmospheres.
* Averted in ''StarTrekKlingonAcademy''. Although flying slowly through a planet's atmosphere provides good camouflage, plowing ahead in your ''Bird of Prey'' at high impulse without shields is an excellent way to become a meteor and fail your mission.
* ''{{Halo}}'' averts it. {{Drop Pod}}s and {{escape pod}}s burn up on re-entry as one would expect, while Pelicans don't reenter fast enough to start heating up.

* Currently played straight in ''VideoGame/KerbalSpaceProgram'', but the game is still in a [[ObviousBeta prototype stage]] and the developers want to add it as a feature later. However, for players with the full (paid) version, [[http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/showthread.php/21050-0-17-Re-entry-Heat-Module-and-Mk-1-Pod-Heat-Shields/page6 there is a mod available]] that averts this.
** In a recent update they have added re-entry effects along with a sonic boom funnel, but you still need a mod to cause some true re-entry chaos from breaking up spaceships and satellites.

* ''{{Futurama}}'', unusually for a comedy series, does this right: When Bender the robot falls to Earth from space, he's hot enough to instantly melt snow several meters away. Justified since he's made of Dolemite, which incredibly heat resistant and tough. Bender is made of just enough that he can swim around in magma from the Earth's core for short periods and only be somewhat negatively affected.

* Averted in the ''Series/DoctorWho'' story "[[Recap/DoctorWho2007CSVoyageOfTheDamned Voyage of the Damned]]": [[spoiler: The ''[[SpaceSailing Titanic]]'' is glowing when crashing to Earth; however, this is no longer visible when it nearly (or in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoNSS4E11TurnLeft Turn Left]]", actually) hits Buckingham Palace. The Doctor even uses the friction of re-entry to reignite the ''Titanic'''s engines.]]

** In ''Series/StargateAtlantis'', the episode "Lifeline" has [=McKay=] explains that even with the ZPM powering the shields, too steep a descent during atmospheric re-entry could overtax it and cause the shield to fail, while even with it in place, the incredible turbulence could cause the city to break into a million pieces long before it crashes into the surface.

** In ''Manga/MobileSuitCrossboneGundam'', Kincaid manages to survive reentry using a beam shield rather than a physical, which nobody was sure was even possible. He is still an inch from death afterward and needs immediate medical attention.