Quote:
Originally Posted by ChewChewTrain
Why waste the fuel to slow down? Can't we just re-enter the atmosphere, use the air friction drag, and simply glow red hot for just a few hours?
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Actually used for space probes - see aerobraking. Problem is that at interstellar speeds, you run out of atmosphere before speed, and either go zipping past or have an opportunity to perform lithobraking :-)