What did you change in the model?
Labs / Astronomy
Gravity Slingshot
A probe coasts past a planet that is itself racing along its orbit. Drag left or right to aim the flyby, then watch the trail bend and the speed readout jump. Pass behind the planet and it drags you forward; pass ahead and it slows you down — the same trick that flings real spacecraft across the Solar System.
Labs / Astronomy / Gravity Slingshot
Gravity Slingshot
A probe coasts past a planet that is itself racing along its orbit. Drag left or right to aim the flyby, then watch the trail bend and the speed readout jump. Pass behind the planet and it drags you forward; pass ahead and it slows you down — the same trick that flings real spacecraft across the Solar System.
Why it matters
Why explore this?
Astronomy uses patterns in light and motion to explain objects we cannot touch directly. This model lets you change one part of a space system and see what the evidence would look like.
Explore
Try the model
approach 9.0 km/sspeed now 9.0 km/sbend —Δv —
Investigate
Questions to test
Predict first, try it in the model, then use what you observe to answer.
What to try
- The planet never touches the probe, so where does the extra speed come from?
- Aim behind the planet, then ahead of it. Which side gives a boost, and which brakes?
- Speed now spikes near the planet and then settles — why doesn't the probe keep that peak speed?
- Crank up the planet's velocity. How big can the Δv assist grow, and is there a ceiling near twice the planet's speed?
- Aim for a near miss with a tiny offset. How sharply can gravity bend the path before the probe whips all the way around?
Explain
Make sense of what happened
Look for a cause-and-effect rule: what did you change, what responded, and what stayed the same? Astronomers use those patterns to infer how distant systems work.
Check
Before you leave
What visible evidence changed?
What rule could explain that change?
If you can answer all three using evidence from the model, you understand the main idea. If not, return to Explore and change one setting at a time.