POPSCI.COM.AU 7
ARTHUR C CLARKE DOES IT AGAIN
The idea of using airbags on the outside
to decelerate a spacecraft isn’t new, and
has popped up once or twice in SF movies
that try to be “about the science”. A very early
appearance was in the 1984 film 2010: The
Year We Make Contact, where bags protected
the Leonov as it used Jupiter’s atmosphere
to brake into an orbit around Io. Why such a
high-risk manoeuvre? Because it looks cool!