Lithobraking
Lithobraking is a whimsical "crash landing" euphemism used by spacecraft engineers to refer to a spacecraft impacting the surface of a planet or moon.[1][2][3] The word was coined by analogy with "aerobraking", slowing a spacecraft by intersecting the atmosphere, with "lithos" (Ancient Greek: λίθος [líthos], "rock")[4] substituted to indicate the spacecraft is intersecting the planet's solid lithosphere rather than merely its gaseous atmosphere.
According to Jonathan McDowell,[1] "Lithobraking reduces the apoapsis height to zero instantly, but with the unfortunate side effect that the spacecraft does not survive. Originally a whimsical euphemism, but increasingly a standard term."
End-of-mission lithobraking
[edit]Lithobraking is used to refer to the result of a spacecraft crashing into the rocky surface of a body with no measures to ensure its survival, either by accident or with intent. For instance, the term has been used to describe the impact of MESSENGER into Mercury after the spacecraft ran out of fuel.[2][3] More recently, the term has also been used to describe the successful completion of the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), when a probe crashed into Dimorphos to test lithobraking as a method of planetary defense.[5]
See also
[edit]
References
[edit]- ^ a b McDowell, Jonathan (2020). "Lithobraking", Astronautical Glossary. Retrieved May 16, 2022.
- ^ a b Whitwam, Ryan (April 30, 2015). "NASA's MESSENGER probe is crashing into Mercury today". Extreme Tech. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
- ^ a b Chappell, Bill (April 30, 2015). "Kill The Messenger: NASA Orbiter Crashes Into Mercury". NPR.org. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
- ^ "litho". Dictionary.com.
- ^ Glaze, Lori S. (October 2022). "First Line of Defense". Lunar and Planetary Institute. Archived from the original on November 17, 2022. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
... the live feed dropped out at the heartbreaking/lithobraking moment of impact ...