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We are already doing that. A orbital mechanics maneuver used in deep space spaceflight called a gravity assist or slinghshot trades a cosmic object's kinetic en
by kataklasm 2y ago
We are already doing that. A orbital mechanics maneuver used in deep space spaceflight called a gravity assist or slinghshot trades a cosmic object's kinetic energy to change a spacecraft's flight path. Since that takes a large amount of energy at the speeds spacecraft go, an equal amount of energy must get subtracted from that object. Of course, the same amount of energy that's very significant for a spacecraft is meaninglessly small for an object such as a natural satellite like the Moon or a planet as Jupiter. So if you slingshot around Jupiter you are altering Jupiter's orbit around the sun an almost infinitesimally small amount, but you are altering it.
But of course, the question was asking for a significantly altered orbit, which this most definitely isn't.