"Mike Dennis" wrote in message
news
Just how rough is a shuttle reentry? I've read a lot of reports in the
press over the years about "buffeting" during reentry, but I've never
heard any crews mention it. I've also never noticed any buffeting on
onboard videos shot during reentry. It always looks smooth as silk until
the shuttle gets under 30,000ft or so, where it sometimes encounters
normal clear air turbulence.

In the old capsule days I know buffeting was sometimes a problem, but is
this still true for the shuttle? I believe it was an early design
concern, but in reality is it less of a factor than originally expected?

Nobody know, huh? On this group I've heard of a lot of design points argued
that "it has to be designed this way due to reentry buffeting and loads".
But it doesn't really seem like any of us know, do we?