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The goal is not to "make it thru", the goal is only to slow the spacecraft down, so IT can "make it thru".

Think of this thing as a "reverse parachute", which is deployed forward of motion, as opposed to the rear. It is intended to add boatloads of drag while adding little in the way of mass.

So, in the very upper wisps of atmosphere, this starts radically slowing down the spacecraft, without the need for it to expend fuel to change speed.

When it gets to the point where the air is so dense that the forces threaten to rip it off, it is jettisoned anyway, because by that time, the spaceship has slowed to a much more manageable speed for re-entering the rest of the way.

(where they are likely to deploy conventional parachutes, or use jet thrusters)