To remove or reduce the spinning motion of something, especially a spacecraft or rotating object.
From prefix de- (meaning to reverse or remove) + spin (from Old English spinnan). The term emerged in aerospace engineering in the 20th century to describe the technical process of stopping rotation.
NASA engineers had to 'despin' the Skylab space station when it was tumbling uncontrollably in orbit—imagine trying to stop a cosmic top by throwing tennis balls at it from another spacecraft!
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