aerobrake

[ air-oh-breyk ]

verb (used without object)

, aer·o·braked, aer·o·brak·ing.

1. (of a spacecraft or satellite) to reduce velocity by taking advantage of a planet's atmospheric drag.

Word History and Origins

Origin of aerobrake¹

First recorded in 1970–75; aero- ( def ) + brake ¹( def )

Example Sentences

"I had a few minutes, so I ran through the aerobrake lockdown checklist for the reactor room. Everything's ready for acceleration and the compartment's sealed off."

From Literature

To save fuel that would otherwise be used by firing retrorockets to ease the ship into orbit around Mars, the craft will be equipped with an aerobrake.

From Time Magazine Archive