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Loading contentA single, deep pass through a planet's atmosphere to slow a spacecraft enough for orbital capture in one stroke, behind a heat shield — far faster than aerobraking but far more demanding, requiring precise guidance and thermal protection. It has been studied and validated in analysis but has not yet been used on a planetary mission.
Facts on this topic will be cited from these primary and reference sources.
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.