How Does NASA Now: Aerobraking -- Entry, Descent Work?

NASA uses aerobraking to slow down spacecraft when they come back to Earth, kind of like using a slide to stop your bike ride.

Imagine you’re riding your bike really fast down the street, and then you hit a slide. You go whoosh down it, and suddenly you're not going as fast anymore. That’s what happens with aerobraking!

When a spacecraft comes back to Earth, it enters the atmosphere, that's like coming into your neighborhood after riding far away.

As it moves through the air, the air pushes against it, creating friction, which slows the spacecraft down. This is called entry.

Then, the spacecraft starts to descend, or come closer to Earth. It might drop a parachute, like you do when you jump from a tree, to help it slow down even more and land safely on the ground.

Aerobraking helps save fuel because the air does most of the slowing work instead of the spacecraft’s engines. That means NASA can send more people or things into space without needing as much rocket power!