[clintonh8r]

Not an expert, but I think the telemetry is blacked out for a period during entry.

[Moose4]

There's a period during re-entry where the ionization caused by the ship plowing through the upper atmosphere at thousands of mph causes radio transmissions to be disrupted. They don't get contact back until the shuttle slows down and gets out of the ionosphere. That's how it used to work, anyway, I guess it's still valid now.

}:-)4