A New Test Rig Advances Magnet-Powered Braking for Spacecraft Reentry

Researchers at Tokyo Metropolitan University built a platform to test magnetohydrodynamic aerobraking, which uses intense magnetic fields to slow a spacecraft during reentry. The rig fires a shock wave at more than seven kilometers per second against a miniature vessel inside a powerful electromagnet. The technique could make reentry gentler and vehicles more reusable.