flyby

American  

[flahy-bahy] / ˈflaɪˌbaɪ /

Or fly-by

noun

plural

flybys

1. the flight of a spacecraft close enough to a celestial object, as a planet, to gather scientific data.

2. Aeronautics.

   1. Also called flypast.  a low-altitude flight of an aircraft for the benefit of ground observers.

   2. flyover.

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flyby British  

/ ˈflaɪˌbaɪ /

noun

1. a flight past a particular position or target, esp the close approach of a spacecraft to a planet or satellite for investigation of conditions

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Etymology

Origin of flyby

1950–55, noun use of verb phrase fly by

Example Sentences

On Friday, NASA’s Artemis II astronauts returned safely after a historic lunar flyby.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 13, 2026

The lunar flyby is already NASA’s most viewed live broadcast on YouTube with more than 27 million views.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 12, 2026

The four astronauts -- Americans Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch as well as Canadian Jeremy Hansen -- set a record for distance from Earth during their lunar flyby.

From Barron's • Apr. 9, 2026

It was the first time hearing from the team since their historic lunar flyby that saw them travel further from Earth than any other humans.

From BBC • Apr. 9, 2026

"The problem is the intercept velocity. The MAV is designed to get to low Mars orbit, which only requires 4.1 kps. But the Hermes flyby will be at 5.8 kps."

From "The Martian" by Andy Weir