Flight maneuver

Aerobraking

Using repeated shallow passes through the upper fringe of a planet's atmosphere to shed orbital energy through drag, gradually shrinking a large capture orbit into the desired one — trading time for a large saving in propellant. NASA's Mars orbiters, including Mars Global Surveyor and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, used months of aerobraking to reach their science orbits.

Highlights

›Trimming an orbit with atmospheric drag to save propellant

Aerocapture
The Delta-v Budget

Across space engineering

Aerocapture

Knowledge connections

Associated withAerocapture
Associated withThe Delta-v Budget
Associated withAerocapture

Sources

The primary and reference sources this topic draws on.

NASANational Aeronautics and Space Administration
Mission data, planetary science, space telescopes, and public-domain imagery.
Most NASA-produced imagery is in the public domain; individual items are checked for usage terms before publication.