NASA’s Genius Plan to Use Gravity to Reach the Moon

Scitech Daily ^ | February 26, 2025 | Jet Propulsion Laboratory

[Red Badger]

Ping!........................

[cgbg]

NASA is absolutely outstanding at one thing...propaganda.

Meanwhile the dog ate its homework.

[PeterPrinciple]

Wow, no mention of climate change that I saw? No diversity either?

what is going on?

[Red Badger]

Meanwhile the DOGE ate its homework.....................

[cgbg]

Yeah—I hope so.

There should be plenty of waste and fraud and abuse to work with—even in this relatively small agency.

[FreedomPoster]

Good eye, great point.

The adults are in charge.

[Tell It Right]

I'm sincerely hoping that SpaceX has brought JPL and Boeing and others into realizing that they have to actually produce good spacecraft to keep getting space funds.

I like SpaceX for now, but don't want them to become the only shop in town and also get complacent. I believe in healthy competition.

[Red Badger]

SpacEx launched 10 missions in January 2025.

NASA couldn’t do that in 10 years...............

[teeman8r]

Nasa Employees be like: last week i : 1) organized a plan to map the moon surface looking for traces of water...
2) drew a nifty diagram of said plan
3) showed up to the office with copies of the diagram
4) made 8 copies, one for each of my mid level managers.
5) answered all my emails.

[Jan_Sobieski]

It’s much easier and less expensive to film moon landings in a studio like we did in 1969-1972.

[rlmorel]

Wait..wait...didn’t we use “gravity” to reach the moon back in 1968?

[rktman]

Sling shot? Catapult? Trebouchet?(sp)

[E. Pluribus Unum]

the mission’s design and navigation team has planned a trajectory that will use the gravity of the Sun, Earth, and Moon to guide the spacecraft

Slackers. Dick Tracy used the gravity of all nine planets.

[sasquatch]

‘will use the gravity of the Sun, Earth, and Moon...’

Like they have a choice.

[George from New England]

Lots to go wrong

[Red Badger]

Just one misfire and the project is lost in space.............

[Sirius Lee]

Just one misfire and the project is lost in space.............

Or worse. If Star Trek has taught us anything about physics, it's that the slingshot effect sends one back in time.

[George from New England]

Keep it simple stupid

Too bad NASA buried that plaque, not woke enough I guess

[GingisK]

This is not something new. Apollo was given just enough velocity to pass through the gravitational null between the Earth and the moon. Then it fell to the moon. Same for return trip.

It was called a "Low energy free-return trajectory". If the engines failed to ignite for lunar insertion, it would return to earth after slowly creeping back through the null point.