atmospheric braking

American  

noun

Rocketry.

1. a technique of reentry in which the vehicle is maneuvered in the upper atmosphere so as to lose velocity by utilizing drag without overheating.

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Example Sentences

The higher orbit will reduce the effect of atmospheric braking and extend the satellite's lifetime until at least 1989, or possibly even into the early 1990s, when the sun again erupts.

From Time Magazine Archive

The first group fell into atmospheric braking; the second group split apart and established an "orbital shell" of criscrossing orbits, timed and interlocking, at eight hundred miles, to guard the descent of the first wave of ships, while the third wave remained in battle formation at three thousand miles as a rear guard against possible space attack.

From Project Gutenberg

Starting from the platform, where it had no effective weight, it was capable of direct descent to the Earth without spiralling or atmospheric braking.

From Project Gutenberg