[Yo-Yo]

For ballistic capture, the spacecraft cruises a bit slower than Mars itself as the planet runs its orbital lap around the sun.

I'm rusty on my orbital mechanics, but wouldn't slowing down the spacecraft cause it to fall inwards towards the Sun?

[BenLurkin]

I really don’t know. Parallel parking is still a challenge for me.

But reading this, I thought of those asteroids that seem to follow the earth around the sun. Always wondered if that wasn’t a smarter way of putting something into “orbit” around a gravity well.

[hattend]

You slow it down by putting it in a higher orbit (out past Mars). When Mars approaches, you lower your orbit to allow speed matching.

Seems it would be far easier to launch toward a spot Mars will be in 6 months like we did for the moon missions.

[taxcontrol]

The short answer is that it depends on which gravity well you are in (which is exerting the greater gravitational pull).

[Jack Hydrazine]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hohmann_transfer_orbit

[Jack Hydrazine]

Ballistic capture
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low-energy_transfer

[dr_lew]

This “slowing down” is exactly what happens in a transfer orbit. An object, whether planet or spacecraft, in an elliptical orbit slows down as it travels from perihelion to aphelion. If it’s making a rendevous with another object in a circular orbit at that radius, It will be overtaken by the rendevous target and start to fall towards it as they get close.