[chimera]

No. It's a matter of conservation of energy. The skydiver had potential energy (height above ground) but not much kinetic energy (started from essentially zero velocity). Returning from orbit, a spacecraft has more potential energy (higher altitude and greater mass) and a heckuva lot more kinetic energy (orbital velocity). Both “burn off” that energy returning to the Earth, but the spacecraft has a lot more to get rid of than the skydiver.

[Carriage Hill]

That makes sense.

Don’t shuttles travel at something like 15,000-24,000 mph in space? That’s coming-in pretty “hot”... don’t they turn ‘em around and do a burn to slow down?