I didn't mean the engines were on the whole way down. But if they aren't pointing in the right direction to begin with, you need to flip the entire 70m-long sta

I didn't mean the engines were on the whole way down. But if they aren't pointing in the right direction to begin with, you need to flip the entire 70m-long stage around somewhere in the atmosphere. Even at terminal velocity it's moving pretty fast, and I doubt it will survive going sideways at 100m/s through the air, never mind that you need some thrusters that can even develop enough force to flip it around. That animation for the second stage reentry is an animation. Recovering the second stage will be extremely difficult and, if it is ever done successfully, I don't think it'll involve doing a 180 flip in the lower atmosphere.