Talk:Atmospheric Reentry

Development and editorial material moved from the article — 27 October 2026

The following original passages were moved or rewritten to keep Atmospheric Reentry focused on operating in Vieneo. They are preserved here as development history, editorial context or source material, not as current operating instructions. Player-facing limits and controls are retained in the article where applicable.

Source: Atmospheric Reentry, revision 5033. The excerpts below preserve the original wikitext, including any obsolete statements and links.

The [[Orbit#Automated entry alpha|automated-entry alpha]] can execute an '''ENTRY READY''' plan from orbit after undocking, using current loaded mass, forward/reverse mains and separate RCS limits. Its preview checks '''95% of Vne''' and '''200°C predicted AFT''', with thrust, engine-response and attitude margins. It also checks the existing occupant and damage-dependent wing load limits, reserves 5% of that envelope, and rejects unplanned skip trajectories after the entry interface. These are controller settings to validate, not newly certified vehicle limits. The nose stays into the air-relative direction of travel during reverse braking. Active protection can sacrifice the requested time to brake, arrest excessive descent or recover an unplanned climb. LOAD LIMIT / RECOVER and SKIP LIMIT / RECOVER retain DOR control with bounded commands. See [[Orbit#Entry load and skip protection|load and skip protection]].

'''Client version matters:''' earlier calibration clients say '''REENTRY PLAN / PLAN ONLY''' and do not execute entry. They can still [[Orbit#Recording a manual entry test|record a manual entry with REC]]. For administrators, engaging DOR records automatically through the handoff guidance. Retain both matching CSV files for review. Other accounts fly the same entry without diagnostic recording. REC alone never engages flight control.

In the experimental plasma-envelope client, the controlled spacecraft's entry glow surrounds the vehicle and can be seen through the windshield and from its external cameras. During normal operation, its brightest region faces the relative airflow, so it can move towards the underside or side of the ship as attitude changes. The appearance depends on air-relative speed and local atmospheric density; it is not tied to a fixed altitude or to Autoflyte engagement. Administrator GAMMA previews use nose-to-tail flow at a fixed animation rate, independent of current orbital motion; see [[Special Commands]].

The glow is a visual approximation, not a temperature gauge or a safe-flight indication. Continue to monitor AFT, IAS/Vne, dynamic pressure and flight path. In automatic operation, radio blackout and damage need not begin or end at the same time as the visible glow. The administrator GAMMA preview also sets radio blackout directly, from no plasma-induced radio loss at 0 to fully garbled radio-chat text and zero scanner range at 1; GAMMA-1 restores automatic behavior. This diagnostic scale does not represent a measured plasma density; see [[Special Commands]] for details. Clouds and opaque cockpit/hull surfaces can obscure it. The experimental envelope is not shown in the simulator, on remote traffic, or on a carrier while the controlled vehicle is carried inside it.

[[Vieneo]] has no sharp atmospheric boundary. Its modeled density falls with a 7.5 km scale height; pressure, temperature and air-relative speed matter at the actual altitude. Its nitrogen-rich atmosphere is denser at the surface than Earth's, so Earth entry schedules are not interchangeable. At high altitude lift and drag may be weak, but 100 km is not a guarantee of negligible heating or dynamic pressure.

[[Category:Getting Started]]