For Educators · Atmospheric Reentry
Atmospheric Reentry for a solar sail
Built for educators teaching it to a class. Drop a live demo into a lecture or assign it as a shareable link — no lab installs. Simulate a solar sail live below — adjust the inputs and watch it respond, right in your browser.
Atmospheric ReentryLive
the fire of coming home
Controls
Presets
A returning spacecraft sheds nearly all its 7.8 km/s orbital speed as heat in the upper atmosphere. Too shallow an angle and it skips back into space; too steep and the deceleration g-load and heating spike to lethal levels. The ballistic coefficient sets how deep it plunges before the thickening air finally slows it.
Data Inspector
Peak deceleration0.0 g
Entry angle5°
Survivable?yes
Governing equation
Reading this result: A moderate entry angle keeps peak deceleration within a survivable range while shedding orbital speed as heat.
Runs locally in your browser — free forever. Scale to the cloud when reality gets heavy.
Also for:StudentsResearchersEngineersHobbyists & MakersK-12 StudentsFirst RespondersGeneral version →
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Frequently asked questions
- Is this good for educators?
- Yes — this version of "Atmospheric Reentry for a solar sail" is framed for educators teaching it to a class. Drop a live demo into a lecture or assign it as a shareable link — no lab installs.
- Do I need to install anything?
- No. It runs in any modern browser, free, with no account required.