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by beckingz 1829 days ago
Right! The Oberth effect for a smaller body is not as large as it would be for earth, but would still be non-zero.
1 comments

"Non-zero" is the key word here.

Oberth effect from fast flyby of a body with low gravity would be negligible.

> Oberth effect from fast flyby of a body with low gravity would be negligible.

Pretty sure the problem would be, rather, that a flyby of a body with low gravity would be negligibly fast (relative to your speed when not flying by). Oberth effect is because of high speed (a given increase in momentum gives more kinetic energy at higher speed than at lower speed) - it's just that dipping deep into a gravity well is the obvious way to get that speed.