yo-yo despin

noun

A method of reducing the rotation rate of a rapidly-spinning spacecraft by unreeling a pair of weights from the spinning spacecraft, greatly increasing the spacecraft's moment of inertia and transferring most of the spacecraft's angular momentum to the weights.

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Meanings

nounyo-yo despin (uncountable)

alternative yo-yo de-spin

  1. uncountableaerospaceA method of reducing the rotation rate of a rapidly-spinning spacecraft by unreeling a pair of weights from the spinning spacecraft, greatly increasing the spacecraft's moment of inertia and transferring most of the spacecraft's angular momentum to the weights.

Origin

From the cables being wrapped around the spacecraft and unreeling in the manner of a double yo-yo.

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Cite this entry
APA

yo-yo despin. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/yo-yo%20despin

MLA

“yo-yo despin.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/yo-yo%20despin. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “yo-yo despin,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/yo-yo%20despin.

Source: yo-yo despin on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.