Rendezvous/precis

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Transfer orbit example

In spaceflight, rendezvous refers to the event in which two spacecraft meet. This does not neccessarily occur in space: a rendezvous can also happen on the surface of a celestial body.

A rendezvous usually takes place in orbit, e.g. when spacecrafts are travelling to a space station. If two spacecraft are close enough to each other (< 300m) and travel in similar orbits they are said to rendezvous. In such a situation, both spacecraft can stay close to the space station with minimal corrections (More...)