[Cthulhu_]

I'm now imagining a craft that folds up its solar panels before dipping into the atmosphere to gather fuel / accelerate. I'm sure I've built that in KSP, :p.

[msl]

That is not particulary far-fetched either: the ISS already reorients its solar panels when not illuminated by the sun. They call it the "night glider mode" [1].

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Glider_mode

[zaarn]

Night Glider sounds vaguely like some 80s TV show. I do hope everyone on board is required to wear non-functional sunglasses during night glide.

[sitkack]

> The implementation of drag-reducing flight modes of the space station resulted in saving about 1,000 kg of orbital-maintenance propellant per year.

[greeneggs]

Here's an example where the authors propose doing this for planetary gravity assists, e.g., instead of using Venus for a normal gravity assist, dig into its atmosphere. Everything would need to be folded up first.

"Hypersonic Interplanetary Flight: Aero Gravity Assist"

Al Bowers & Dan Banks, 2006

https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/200900...

Discussed in a podcast here: https://theorbitalmechanics.com/show-notes/al-bowers