Space Missions & Technology
Gravity Assist
A planetary flyby used to reshape a spacecraft's path and speed relative to the Sun.
Why it matters
Flybys can make distant targets accessible with less propellant than a direct powered trajectory.
Technology / mission operations
Overview
The spacecraft exchanges a tiny amount of momentum with the moving planet. A gravity assist is not free energy from nothing. The geometry and timing of the encounter determine the resulting trajectory.
Educational reference, reviewed . This page is not a live mission-status report.
How it works
Gravity bends the spacecraft's planet-relative path. Because the planet moves around the Sun, the spacecraft can depart with a different heliocentric velocity from the one it had on arrival.
Why it matters
Flybys can make distant targets accessible with less propellant than a direct powered trajectory.
Key facts & specifications
Values apply only to the hardware or configuration described. Unverified measurements are omitted.
- Function
- Trajectory change
NASA · Voyager ↗ - Method
- Planetary flyby
NASA · Voyager ↗
Illustration gallery
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Cosmic Civilizations · original educational vector illustration
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Real-world applications
- Voyager planetary encounters
Read the primary references for the original mission context and technical limits.
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Sources & further reading
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