system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: How do space vessels travel to their destination if the destination is in orbit? Do they travel in a line and meet the planet/moon after calculating the orbit or do they constantly change direction so that they're always going towards it?
gpt
Neither. They are shot in an orbit slightly lower than the vessel they want to dock with and lagging slightly behind the target vessel. Since a lower orbit means a faster orbital speed, they will eventually catch up with the target vessel. Then, they correct their orbital parameters to mach their own orbit with the target vessel's. 

Only when they are sufficiently close to their target do they begin to directly accelerate towards it.