Difference between revisions of "Aerobraking"

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(Created page with "'''Aerobraking''' is a technique to lose velocity after reaching a planet. Usually when you enter the sphere of influence of a planet, your relative speed to it will be much ...")
 
(*it costs fuel to raise the periapsis out of the atmosphere; *try to get rid of the “you”;)
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'''Aerobraking''' is a technique to lose velocity after reaching a planet.
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'''Aerobraking''' is a technique to lose velocity after reaching a celestial body.
  
Usually when you enter the sphere of influence of a planet, your relative speed to it will be much too high to enter an orbit, unless you expend a lot of fuel. In order to save the fuel, you can either perform a [[Tutorial: Gravity Assist|gravity assist]] around a moon, or you can perform an aerobraking maneuver to lose speed.
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Usually when the craft enters the sphere of influence of a celestial body, the relative speed to it will be much too high to enter an orbit, unless burning retrograde and expending a lot of fuel. In order to save the fuel, the craft can either perform a [[Tutorial: Gravity Assist|gravity assist]] or perform an aerobraking maneuver.
  
To perform an aerobrake, you need a planet or moon with an atmosphere. Change your trajectory so that it leads you through the atmosphere of the planet. The atmospheric drag will slow you down enough to reach an eccentric but stable orbit around it without costing you any fuel.
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To perform an aerobrake, it must orbit a celestial body with an atmosphere and the trajectory need to leads through this atmosphere. instead of burning retrograde the atmospheric drag will slow the craft down to lower the apoapsis and hopefully enough to reach an eccentric orbit around. After the apoapsis is lowered to the wanted altitude it is necessary to raise the periapsis outside the atmosphere to prevent additional aerobraking maneuvers.
  
Aerobraking is a dangerous maneuver. When you dip too deep into the atmosphere, you lose too much speed and risk crashing. When you don't dip deep enough, you might not lose enough speed to enter an orbit. Usually it is better to be careful, because even when your orbit turns out to keep you just barely in the SoI of the planet, the orbit allows you to perform another aerobreak to slow you down more. For the ideal height for an aerobrake maneuver, consult the article about the planet.
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Aerobraking is a dangerous maneuver. When the craft dips too deep into the atmosphere, it will lose too much speed and risk crashing. When it doesn't dip deep enough, it might not lose enough speed to enter an orbit. Usually it is better to be careful, because even when the orbit turns out to keep it just barely in the SoI of the planet, the orbit allows it to perform additional aerobreaks to slow it down more. For the ideal height for an aerobrake maneuver, consult the article about the planet.
  
 
The following planets and moons have an atmosphere which allows aerobraking:
 
The following planets and moons have an atmosphere which allows aerobraking:

Revision as of 21:21, 11 March 2013

Aerobraking is a technique to lose velocity after reaching a celestial body.

Usually when the craft enters the sphere of influence of a celestial body, the relative speed to it will be much too high to enter an orbit, unless burning retrograde and expending a lot of fuel. In order to save the fuel, the craft can either perform a gravity assist or perform an aerobraking maneuver.

To perform an aerobrake, it must orbit a celestial body with an atmosphere and the trajectory need to leads through this atmosphere. instead of burning retrograde the atmospheric drag will slow the craft down to lower the apoapsis and hopefully enough to reach an eccentric orbit around. After the apoapsis is lowered to the wanted altitude it is necessary to raise the periapsis outside the atmosphere to prevent additional aerobraking maneuvers.

Aerobraking is a dangerous maneuver. When the craft dips too deep into the atmosphere, it will lose too much speed and risk crashing. When it doesn't dip deep enough, it might not lose enough speed to enter an orbit. Usually it is better to be careful, because even when the orbit turns out to keep it just barely in the SoI of the planet, the orbit allows it to perform additional aerobreaks to slow it down more. For the ideal height for an aerobrake maneuver, consult the article about the planet.

The following planets and moons have an atmosphere which allows aerobraking: