@Article{NegriPrad:2020:HiReTh,
               author = "Negri, Rodolfo Batista and Prado, Antonio Fernando Bertachini de 
                         Almeida",
          affiliation = "{Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE)} and {Instituto 
                         Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE)}",
                title = "A historical review of the theory of gravity-assists in the 
                         pre-spaceflight era",
              journal = "Journal of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and 
                         Engineering",
                 year = "2020",
               volume = "42",
               number = "5",
                pages = "e406",
                month = "Aug.",
             keywords = "Gravity-assist · Swing-by · Flyby · Astrodynamics history.",
             abstract = "The gravity-assist manoeuvre is a technique in which a spacecraft 
                         changes its orbital energy and angular momentum by a 
                         close-approach with a celestial body. The result is a great 
                         reduction in the use of fuel and flight time. Several 
                         interplanetary missions have applied it for this reason, like the 
                         famous Voyagers, Mariner, or Galileo. The astronomers knew the 
                         mechanics behind such concept for at least two centuries by noting 
                         the change in the orbits of the comets after passing close to 
                         Jupiter. The introduction of this phenomenon to spaceflight was a 
                         very successful story and motivated many claims that the proposal 
                         of the gravity-assist manoeuvres occurred in the early 60s. 
                         However, the idea of using such mechanism for interplanetary 
                         spaceflight can be traced back to the 20s. The dispute of being 
                         the first to have this idea contributed to throw shadow on these 
                         early pioneers. In that sense, the present paper has the goal of 
                         discussing some aspects related to the history of this manoeuvre 
                         in the pre-spaceflight era, trying to show some of the major steps 
                         made in its early history. It covers from the first studies found 
                         on this topic and goes up to the beginning of the space age, with 
                         the launching of the Sputnik satellite. This time period is chosen 
                         to bring light to these early works in which the astronomical 
                         phenomenon is introduced in the astronautics. Their importance is 
                         highlighted by putting these works under their historical context, 
                         as it shows how some of them were far ahead of their time. Among 
                         these, the work of Tsander, made in mid-20s, is outstanding.",
                  doi = "10.1007/s40430-020-02489-x",
                  url = "http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s40430-020-02489-x",
                 issn = "1678-5878",
             language = "en",
           targetfile = "Negri-Prado2020_Article_AHistoricalReviewOfTheTheoryOf.pdf",
        urlaccessdate = "26 abr. 2024"
}