Aerocapture: Using a planet’s atmosphere to slow down a spacecraft

Space agencies have performed a dazzling aerial feat at both Venus and Mars: they’ve dipped an incoming spacecraft into the planets’ atmospheres to slow it down without wasting precious rocket fuel. But will this audacious aerocapture technique also work in the outer solar system? Athul Pradeepkumar Girija, who recently earned a PhD from Purdue UniversityContinue reading “Aerocapture: Using a planet’s atmosphere to slow down a spacecraft”
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