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Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!cmcl2!seismo!brl-tgr!jcp
From: jcp@brl-tgr.ARPA (Joe Pistritto <jcp>)
Newsgroups: net.space
Subject: Re: Galileo mission to Jupiter
Message-ID: <10563@brl-tgr.ARPA>
Date: Thu, 9-May-85 22:26:18 EDT
Article-I.D.: brl-tgr.10563
Posted: Thu May  9 22:26:18 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 12-May-85 00:07:39 EDT
References: <1671@mordor.UUCP> <24@escher.UUCP>
Reply-To: jcp@brl-tgr.ARPA (Joe Pistritto <jcp>)
Organization: Ballistic Research Lab
Lines: 16


	Ok, I've heard lots of times about the 'gravity assist'
maneuver used to sometimes dramatically increase the speed of
a spacecraft by flying close to a bigger mass.  Now the question
is, how does this work?  I understand that you would gain energy
by dropping weight when inside a gravity well (and having the
velocity vector pointed so that you could make it out, now lighter
and requiring less energy), but is that the ONLY cause of the
acceleration?  I thought that this effect was also due to rotating
the velocity vector of the spacecraft.

	I've also heard that the maneuver works best when you get
closest to the object being slingshot off of.  Is this true?
(it would seem so)

						-JCP-