Editing Spaceplane (section)

===Atmospheric reentry===
{{main|Atmospheric entry}}
[[File:Buran rear view (Le Bourget 1989).JPEG|thumb|upright|[[Buran (spacecraft)|Buran]] spaceplane rear showing rocket engine nozzles, attitude control thrusters, aerodynamic surfaces, and heat shielding]]
Orbital spacecraft reentering the Earth's atmosphere must shed [[orbital speed|significant velocity]], resulting in [[atmospheric entry|extreme heating]]. For example, the [[Space Shuttle thermal protection system]] (TPS) protects the orbiter's interior structure from surface temperatures that reach as high as {{convert|3000|F|C|order=flip}}, well above the melting point of steel.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/nasafact/tps.htm |title=Orbiter Thermal Protection System |publisher=NASA/Kennedy Space Center |date=1989 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060909094330/http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/nasafact/tps.htm |archive-date=9 September 2006}}</ref> [[Suborbital spaceplane]]s fly lower energy trajectories that do not put as much stress on the spacecraft thermal protection system.

The [[Space Shuttle Columbia disaster|Space Shuttle ''Columbia'' disaster]] was the direct result of a TPS failure.