Gravity Assist

Maneuver: A Giant
Leap in The History of
Mankind
GRAVITY ASSIST MANEUVER: A
GIANT LEAP IN THE HISTORY OF
MANKIND

A PROJECT SUBMITTED TO
FAKIR MOHAN AUTONOMOUS COLLEGE, BALASORE
IN FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF
BACHELOR OF SCIENCE

SUBMITTED BY
NAME: ROHAN PATTANAYAK
EXAM ROLL NO. 19BD84006
REGD. NO. 19985/19

UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF

SMT. MOUSUMI DAS PATTANAYAK, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR & HOD

PLACE OF RESEARCH
DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS
FAKIRMOHAN AUTONOMOUS COLLEGE BALASORE
2022
 DECLARATION
I do hereby declare that the research work presented in this project entitled
“GRAVITY ASSIST MANEUVER: A GIANT LEAP IN THE HISTORY OF
MANKIND” is original & carried out by me under the supervision of Smt.
Mousumi Das Pattanayak, Assistant Professor & HOD, Department of Physics at Fakir
Mohan Autonomous College, Balasore. The work is original & has not been submitted
for any other degree of this college or any other college or university.

Signature of the candidate

Date:
Place:

Signature of guide
(with date & seal)

Signature of the head of the department

(with date & seal)
 CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that the project entitled “Gravity Assist Maneuver: A Giant Leap in
the History of Mankind” which is being submitted by Rohan Pattanayak, examination
roll no. 19BD84006, regd. no. 19985/19 in fulfillment for award of B.Sc. degree to
department of Physics, Fakir Mohan Autonomous College, Balasore is a record of
bonafide work carried out by him under my guidance & supervision. The project has
not been submitted to any other college or university for any other degree.

Signature of the supervisor

Name: Smt. Mousumi Das Pattanayak
Assistant Professor & HOD
Fakir Mohan Autonomous College, Balasore
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I gratefully acknowledge my indebtness to my honourable supervisor Assistant
Professor & HOD Smt. Mousumi Das Pattanayak, department of Physics, Fakir Mohan
Autonomous College, Balasore for completion of this project. I also convey my deep
sense of gratitude to her for her blessings & moral advice for me in order to pursue the
project with zeal & enthusiasm.
Lastly, but not the least, I offer my heartily regards to my parents for their
constant inspiration & noble advice.

Rohan Pattanayak
UG 3rd Year
EDS19039
 Abstract
Our universe is full of surprises & mysteries. To explore this vast universe, we need
spacecrafts. With our present technologies, we’ve to launch these spacecrafts from our earth.
For deep space missions, these spacecrafts will need enormous amount of fuel. Launching the
spacecraft with a huge load of fuel increases the cost of mission exponentially which causes
halting such missions. In order to solve this problem, a maneuver known as gravity assist
maneuver was introduced. In this maneuver, the idea is that the spacecraft can gain or lose
speed by swinging by a large astronomical body (e.g., planets, stars, white dwarf, black hole,
etc.) without using much fuel. The spacecraft will gain its momentum from the assisting body
holding Newton’s laws valid. It not only helps in reducing the cost of the mission but also
saves a significant amount of time. In the following sections, the physics behind the gravity
assist maneuver will be exploited.

Keywords: Gravity assist maneuver, gravitational slingshot, swing by

Contents Page
1. Introduction…………………………………………………………………….. 2
2. Need of gravity assist method ………………………………………………. 3
3. What is gravity assist method? …………………………………………………4
4. Analogy with gravity assist maneuver…………………………………………...8
5. Application of gravity assist maneuver in real mission………………………….9
6. Limitations of gravity assist maneuver…………………………………………..12
7. Conclusion…………………………………………………………………….…12