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Spacecraft - Orbiter |
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An orbiter spacecraft gathers information about a planet by entering its orbit. This requires a large propulsive capacity to sufficiently decelerate it at the exact moment as it enters. In addition, orbiting another planet means that solar occultations, or times when the planet blocks the spacecraft from sunlight, will occur. A solar occultation causes extreme temperature variation in the spacecraft and also prevents solar panels from generating power. In addition, Earth occultations prevent data from being transmitted to Earth until a later time. An orbiter spacecraft provides for these difficulties, allowing an in-depth study of various planets. Examples include the Magellan (Venus), Cassini (Saturn), and Galileo (Jupiter).
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