this post was submitted on 31 Aug 2025
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Jupiter is used as a gravity assist to launch spacecraft further. This maneuver is known as a slingshot.
What worries me is that they're stealing a little bit of Jupiter's momentum every time. If they're not careful it'll fall towards the sun and we'll have a Jupiter landing on our heads.
It's alright, we send someone out every few years to give it a bit of a wind up, like a grandfather clock.
Ah ok. I remember we also did this with the Moon for one if the Apollo missions
sg1 taught us that, its either jupiter, or another gas giant or a black hole.
Not a physicist but i don't think a black hole would work...
Why wouldn't it? A gravity well is a gravity well. As long as you remain outside the event horizon it should work in the same way.
While it's true that your spacecraft would have to 'counter that gravity' to escape, that's from the frame of reference of the planet. From the frame of reference of whatever distant object you want your craft to 'accelerate' towards, your craft will appear to have gained momentum. If it were a zero sum game- there would be no "gravitational slingshot" effect (aka gravity assist maneuver).
The way your spacecraft 'steals' kinetic energy from the planet it orbits is by using the "gravity" of the planet. The two objects never come into physical contact with one another, the mass of the ship and the mass of the planet effect each others path through space-time- although very slightly. That is to say they seem to 'pull' on each other- what we call gravity.
The Earth and the Moon likewise 'steal' energy from each other through 'tidal' interactions. This causes the Earth to rotate more slowly and the moon to recede from our planet- this is all due to 'gravity'.
Black holes also have kinetic energy that you can 'steal', to boost yourself toward a third celestial body just like planets do.