Re: Giant Fresnel lenses
In typical space flight the 5th layer of the atmosphere is not broken--this would be the Exosphere where molecules and atoms escape into space. Shuttle orbits take place in the 4th (Thermosphere); so the barrier is not broken. So in the case of ripping holes into the atmosphere, it does not happen at that level. However, in order to get to the Thermosphere, think of the air much in the way water is thought of...the shuttle would have to propel forward, cutting through the resistance momentarily, in order to advance to the next linear point. It is brief and passing through is a way of creating a gap to travel through that point to the next. It is not lasting because the force behind closes it as soon as it is broken.
Just because gases and forces in the atmosphere are usually undetectable to the eye, it doesn't mean that each motion does not have an effect, a counter balance and an outcome.
Plane flight also only occurs in the 2nd layer-Stratosphere, where composition is different from that of the higher levels, so the same rules don't apply. Clouds are mere water vapor and have no substance of force so it can't be likened to atmospheric layers. Planes also travel horizontally (from the Troposhpere to Stratosphere) with only a slight incline during ascent....if my points are wrong someone correct me.