Skipping off the atmosphere

go away, we told you last time you are a dick head.


Brian

--
From the Sofa of Brian Gaff Reply address is active
"Brian Gaff" wrote in message
...
The atmosphere does not just start, it kind of peters out and the height
does vary to some extent due to the effect of the suns radiation etc. Its
a complex interplay between gravity and inertia, air resistance and
heating as to what actually happens. After all, the attitude and material
have a bearing on drag.

Brian

--
From the Sofa of Brian Gaff Reply address is active
"JF Mezei" wrote in message
eb.com...
I have seen multiple references to a spaceship skipping off the
atmosphere being like a flat rock bouncing off water when thrown at a
shallow angle.

Is this truly the case ?

Or is it more a question of a spaceship being accelerated towards the
planet but at an angle where it won't hit atmosphere dense enough to
slow it down so it will just continue into a very elliptical orbit after
its near miss with the atmosphere ?