As the small spacecraft plunged into the first thin traces of the planet's atmosphere it began to glow and burn like a falling meteor. Within seconds the glow spread, quickly changing from red to white as the frictional heat increased. Although the alloy of the metal skin was unbelievably strong it had never been intended to resist temperatures as high as these. Sheets of flame radiated from the nose cone as the metal was torn away, incinerated. Then, just when it appeared that the entire ship would be engulfed in fire and destroyed, the even brighter flames of braking jets lanced through the burning gas. If the craft had been falling out of control it would surely have been destroyed. But the pilot knew what he was doing, had waited until the last possible moment before destruction before firing his engines. To slow the ship's fall just enough to keep the temperature from rising any higher.