retro-rocket
Spacecraft braking engine
A retro-rocket is a rocket engine that fires in the opposite direction of travel to slow a spacecraft down.
Used during reentry or landing, retro-rockets provide braking thrust: The capsule fired its retro-rockets before splashdown.
The prefix retro- here means backward, not old-fashioned.
Reducing speed deliberately
- thrustForceful forward motion
- reverseTurn to opposite
- slowdownReduction in pace
- propulsionForce driving movement forward
burn · velocity · maneuver · throttle · drag · stabilize · deorbit · firing
Protective layer against friction
- descentDownward slope or lineage
- capsuleEnclosed dose container
- spacecraftVehicle for outer space
- parachuteDrag-creating descent device
splashdown · landing · recovery · trajectory · atmosphere · orbital · aerodynamics · deorbit
Quality from past eras
- classicOf lasting excellence
- throwbackReturn to ancestral type
- mid-centuryHalfway through a hundred
- ApolloSun deity, moonshot namesake
Gemini · Mercury · Vostok · retrofuturism · pulp · science-fiction · raygun · Sputnik
braking
Reducing speed deliberately
propulsion · burn · velocity · maneuver · throttle · drag · stabilize · deorbit · firing · counterforce
heatshield
Protective layer against friction
- descentDownward slope or lineage
- capsuleEnclosed dose container
- spacecraftVehicle for outer space
parachute · splashdown · landing · recovery · trajectory · atmosphere · orbital · aerodynamics · deorbit · astronaut
vintage
Quality from past eras
- classicOf lasting excellence
- throwbackReturn to ancestral type
- mid-centuryHalfway through a hundred
Apollo · Gemini · Mercury · Vostok · retrofuturism · pulp · science-fiction · raygun · Sputnik
retro, rocket, rockets, rocketed, rocketing, rocketry, retrograde, retrogress, retrogression