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[–] 14 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

This is a sling. Bottom right corner is a catapult and uses stored energy (the elastic - sorry if wrong wording.) To me at least the idea of a sling that pivots around the user's hand is much closer to the action of using a planet's gravitational pull to sling a satellite craft onwards.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sling_(weapon)

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  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    You wouldn't want to do it with a satellite and I've only ever heard of it being called a slingshot (which usually refers to the device pictured in the meme, likely increasing clarity) or a gravity assist.

    The motion does seem to be more accurate though.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    Good point! A satellite is more likely to orbit a planet monitoring things I guess? It's been a while since I've played Kerbal Space Program!

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  • [–] 4 points 1 year ago

    Satellites are objects orbiting a planet or some other smaller object. One could argue that it is a satellite on the way though too.

    I find the idea of an object like the moon doing a gravity assist around Jupiter to get to us very amusing.

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