Once you've made it to the "bail-out zone" - you're basically in the clear anyway. You're moving slow and cool, and you can let the capsule's parachutes do the work.

Getting them to that point is the dangerous and difficult but that we're currently worried about.

If you want to learn and play around with orbital mechanics and structures, I'd recommend playing Kerbal Space Program - or waiting til Feb and catching it's long anticipated sequel.

Lots of YouTube tutorials to help you with the mechanics, but a great way to see and feel and solve the various challenges there are with space travel.