Gravity assist

A Gravity assist also known as a Gravitational slingshot or a swing-by is when a ship traveling at sublight speeds uses the natural gravitational forces of planets, moons and other celestial bodies to allow the ship to change speed or trajectory. It is a practical way to conserve energy, fuel expenses and time. Gravity assists are commonly used for decelerating when arriving into planetary orbit aand also to decelearate through a planet's atmosphere. Stars can also be used for gravity assists to greatly magnify a ship's thrusting power. This solar slingshot however, is dangerous, as the ship would need to divert all its power to the deflector shields, lest the spacers expose themselves to extremely high levels of radiation.

Appearances

 * ''Millennium Falcon Owner's Workshop Manual (real-life book)