Circularise an orbit using aerobraking

[Johno]

Now that we have a more realistic atmosphere . . .

NASA has used this maneuver to circularise an orbit around Mars - carefully dipping an aeroshell into and out of the atmosphere, scrubbing off speed each time. Now, in their case it may take years to complete the maneuver, but . .

'Painstakingly using aerobraking to scrub off velocity such that you have a perfectly circular orbit inside 18 months?

THAT\'S NOT KERBAL!

Ramming into and out of the atmosphere such that you have a roughly circular orbit in 2 passes (and an unconscious crew).

NOW THAT\'S KERBAL!'

So:

1) Can you circularise an orbit (within 10km) using only aerobraking?

2) What is the fastest time to circular orbit (by the above definition) you can achieve?

[CarolRawley]

Aerobraking=Does not exist.

[Johno]

Yes, but you do slow down a little in thin atmosphere. That looks like aerobraking in bad light . .

[CarolRawley]

Not really. I made an orbit that dipped me into the atmosphere at 100m asl, and the orbit didn\'t decay. And I didn\'t die from crashing, either. The time warp warped me into the side of a mountain.

[Johno]

Now THAT\'S braking.

[CarolRawley]

Did I mention the warp actually warped me inside the mountain, then I crashed into the side from the inside?

The rounding problem in the warp is seriously evil.

[Sordid]

I prefer lithobraking.

[CarolRawley]

I prefer lithobraking.

Gaar. Stop giving me evil ideas. I\'ve already had several ideas to use the rounding error in time warp to breach the perimeter of the Dyson Shell within Kerbin.

[Johno]

Lithobraking? Love it!

In fact I have an image of it right here . . .

[Salda007]

Aerobraking=Does not exist.

Aerobraking certainly exists after the atmosphere change. I dropped my apokee from about 4.7Mm down to 2.3Mm (perikee was ~42000m) last night while working on the 'How low can you go' challenge. And I\'ve certainly dropped a ship out of orbit through repeated passes through the atmosphere before.

The problem is that you can\'t get a stable orbit using just aerobraking; you will need at least one burn to lift your perikee out of the atmosphere, otherwise you will just aerobrake yourself all the way to the ground. Of course, under the terms of the challenge, you just need to get into a roughly circular orbit using aerobraking, not a stable one. So it should be possible for at least one orbit, but I wouldn\'t put money on much more than that, unless you\'re just skimming through the topmost edges.

[Tim_Barrett]

Aerobraking IS possible, and useful at times, but it has some cons aswell.

You would have to be very careful about your angle and velocity with re-entry.

Not all planets/moons will have a significant atmosphere to slow down

When re-entry heat is added that will also needed to be taken into consideration.

But, it is fun and kerbal.