Atmospheric entry
Atmospheric entry, also known as reentry or atmospheric interface, was when a spacecraft made an entry into a planet or moons atmosphere from space. At high speeds this could compress the air in front of the craft, producing high temperatures that could be lethal to an inadequately-shielded vessel.

In 2152, the criminal Kuroda Lor-ehn placed his stolen Enolian prison transport into a decaying orbit over Tamaal, planning to let the craft disintegrate in the atmosphere while he, his Nausicaan accomplice, Jonathan Archer, and Charles Tucker III escaped on an Enolian shuttle. Ultimately, Kuroda went down with the ship while  rescued everyone else. ()

In 2257, the  launched several mycelial transport vessels into the atmosphere of a class 4 moon called Delta 2 in the Veda system to land on the surface and grow mycelium spores to replenish Discoverys supply before jumping to Qo'noS. ()

In 2259 of the alternate reality, the  fell into Earth's atmosphere after being disabled by the  over Luna. The vessel suffered damage during re-entry but was saved from crashing into the surface after Captain  managed to restore main power from inside the warp core. ()

In 2267, Montgomery Scott suggested to Spock that if they timed their flight aboard the , they could cut their orbit and save enough of their fuel for a controlled re-entry into the atmosphere of Taurus II. Spock instead elected to dump and ignite the fuel, signaling the nearby  to beam the Galileo crew aboard before the shuttle re-entered and burned up. ()

In 2285, the remains of the  fell into ' atmosphere following its self-destruction at the hands of Admiral James T. Kirk. ()

In 2364, the shuttle  nearly fell into the atmosphere of Relva VII after its pilot, Jake Kurland, accidentally depowered its dilithium core. Captain Picard was able to coax him into piloting it into a shallow reentry trajectory; in this trajectory, the Copernicus rebounded off the planet's atmosphere and was safely recovered by the . ()

Later that same year, the Enterprise-D defeated a cloaked Echo Papa 607 by entering the atmosphere of Minos; when the drone pursued, it became visible due to the surrounding plasma and was easily destroyed. ()

Also in 2364, the Ornaran freighter  became trapped in a decaying orbit over Ornara after losing power. The Enterprise-D rescued four of the six passengers, as well as their cargo of felicium, before the Sanction was destroyed in the atmosphere. ()

In 2367, Lieutenant Paul Hickman was killed when his stolen Type 7 shuttlecraft exploded in the atmosphere of Tarchannen III due to excessive speed. ()

In 2371, the Enterprise-D's saucer section fell into the atmosphere of Veridian III after losing helm control. The damaged vessel crash-landed on the planet after surviving re-entry. ()

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