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by outworlder 3585 days ago
The payload would need to slow down to be captured by the planet just the same. Normally you could try aerobraking and the like, but we are talking about relativistic speeds here.
2 comments

To get better closeup pictures, if possible, aim the probe for the planet and live stream picture home all the way to impact.

Although I'm not sure these probes are at all steerable, either autonomously or remotely.

Highly unlikely, the mass of the probes will be on the order of several grams at most, and, depending on the trajectory relative to the planet, steering could require an equally impractical amount of fuel as slowing down would.
Livestream at 20% of light speed?
There may not be any significant atmosphere for aerobraking. This likely would not be known until long after the probe arrived.