How exactly does aerobraking work?
Greg Frank, 8th grade, Charleston Middle School, Charleston, IL ANSWER: If you think of the feeling when you hold your hand out the car window as you travel down the hiway, you can understand aerobraking. The spacecraft uses its solar panel as you use your hand. The force of the Martian atmosphere pushes on the panel, just like the air pushes on your hand. This force slows down the Odyssey spacecraft. By slowing the spacecraft down, we allow gravity to exert more force on the spacecraft and pull it closer to Mars. This allows us to control the shape and size of Odyssey’s orbit until we achieve the orbit we need for mapping.
