Atmospheric entry
movement of an object through the gases of an atmosphere from outer space
Atmospheric entry (sometimes listed as Vimpact or Ventry) is the movement of an object from outer space into and through the gases of an atmosphere of a planet, dwarf planet, or natural satellite. Atmospheric entry may be uncontrolled entry, as in the entry of astronomical objects, space debris, or bolides, or it may be controlled entry (or reentry) of a spacecraft that can be navigated or follow a predetermined course. Methods for controlled atmospheric entry, descent, and landing of spacecraft are collectively termed as EDL.
Objects entering an atmosphere experience atmospheric drag, which puts mechanical stress on the object, and aerodynamic heating — caused mostly by compression of the air in front of the object, but also by drag. These forces can cause loss of mass (ablation) or even complete disintegration of smaller objects, and objects with lower compressive strength can explode.
Objects have reentered with speeds ranging from 7.8 km/s for low Earth orbit to around 12.5 km/s for the Stardust probe. They have high kinetic energies, and atmospheric dissipation is the only way of expending this, as it is highly impractical to use retrorockets for the entire reentry procedure. Crewed space vehicles must be slowed to subsonic speeds before parachutes or air brakes may be deployed.
Ballistic warheads and expendable vehicles do not require slowing at reentry, and in fact, are made streamlined so as to maintain their speed. Furthermore, slow-speed returns to Earth from near-space such as high-altitude parachute jumps from balloons do not require heat shielding because the gravitational acceleration of an object starting at relative rest from within the atmosphere itself (or not far above it) cannot create enough velocity to cause significant atmospheric heating.
For Earth, atmospheric entry occurs by convention at the Kármán line at an altitude of 100 km (62 miles; 54 nautical miles) above the surface, while at Venus atmospheric entry occurs at 250 km (160 mi; 130 nmi) and at Mars atmospheric entry occurs at about 80 km (50 mi; 43 nmi).
The public source identifies “Atmospheric entry” as movement of an object through the gases of an atmosphere from outer space. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Atmospheric, entry and movement.
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A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Atmospheric entry”, the useful work is to connect “movement of an object through the gases of an atmosphere from outer space” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Contemporary correspondence, administrative files and participant testimony can test how later narratives organized the event or institution. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 1, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q531716. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
Official terminology may obscure informal participation, dissent or communities documented only indirectly. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Atmospheric entry” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.