Gravity Assists

Gravity assist, also known as a slingshot maneuver, is a spaceflight maneuver that uses the gravity of a planet or other celestial body to change the direction and speed of a spacecraft. The spacecraft approaches the planet in a trajectory that takes it behind the planet, where it is affected by the planet's gravity. The spacecraft gains speed as it falls toward the planet, and then loses speed as it moves away from the planet. By carefully choosing the trajectory and timing of the maneuver, engineers can use the gravity assist to increase the speed of the spacecraft, change its direction, or both. Gravity assists have been used in many space missions, including the Voyager missions to the outer planets, the Cassini mission to Saturn, and the New Horizons mission to Pluto.
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