planetfall

1 8.0

Landing on a planet from space

noun
/ˈplænɪtˌfɔl/

: aterrizaje en un planeta

The astronauts celebrated their successful planetfall after landing safely on Mars.
make planetfall

Examples

I'd hardly given the clone a thought since Lisbeth had made planetfall, but I wasn't happy to find him suddenly at large.

Fiction book (1991)
"We could make planetfall somewhere else," he suggested at one point.

Fiction book (1999)
The ship was merely fired upon as she was making planetfall, and the captain was forced to seek an alternative landing site. "My version is better," said Albert.

Fiction book (1991)
Full speed to planetfall.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017)
Curiosity makes planetfall.

Blog text (9)
After many months of travel, the spacecraft finally made planetfall on the new world.
Her heart raced as the ship prepared for planetfall on the mysterious planet.

Synonyms

landing

vsplanetfall

422 2.3

Coming down to a surface from the air or sea

is arriving from space onto a world surface rather than any surface

touchdown

vsplanetfall

Specialized

12 4.1

The moment a plane's wheels touch the runway when it lands

is the full arrival from space onto a world surface not just the contact moment

Surface Forms

planetfall singular

planetfalls plural

Morphology

planetfall = planet + fall (transparent) = planet + fall

The meaning 'landing on a planet' is directly derivable from 'planet' + 'fall' (descent/landing), so learners who know both components can infer the sense.

Etymology

Planetfall combines planet and fall, where planet comes from an old Greek word meaning 'wanderer' and fall means 'to come down'. So planetfall literally means coming down onto a planet — the act of landing on its surface.