How Did Kirk and Sulu Survive the Free Fall from Space Above Vulcan?

In Star Trek (2009), Kirk, Sulu (and a third) free fall from space in an attempt to disable the drill. Presumably, the shuttle didn't divert to enter Vulcan's atmosphere, so how did the three avoid being incinerated?

Best Answer

Advanced Star Trek space suits and parachutes.

They make a "space-jump". One presumes that since they have a term for it, the suits are engineered specifically for that action.

But really..falling is not the same as re-entry.

As the Space Shuttle reenters the atmosphere, it is going fast. Super-super fast. In orbit, this is about 7,700 m/s (from NASA). During the entry into the atmosphere, it needs to slow down quite a bit.

It should be noted that our heroes' initial speed would have been effectively very low (essentially zero) and they just fell.

Since they weren't at orbital speeds to start with there was significantly less energy involved so any heat increase would have been significantly lower something easily handled (or waved away) by their suits.

Well, there is clearly a much greater change in energy for Felix compared to a skydiver. However, it is still way less energy per kg than a reentering Space Shuttle. My guess is that he will get a little warm, but not terribly much. Why would I guess this? Well, it is a guess. But think of it this way. Yes, Felix will have to dissipate more energy than a standard skydiver. However, he will be falling for a longer time. This means more thermal contact with the air and a longer time to cool off.

For some detailed calculations (mostly based on Baumgartner's jump) see this

and this