I was surprised that they described a Hohmann Transfer as a "brute force approach to attaining orbit." I would have described it as the non brute-force approach to changing orbits.
Yeah, exactly. It also seems like this low energy technique is more or less a Hohmann transfer to a different point in Mars's orbit. The energy is saved by not arriving at Mars with a big velocity relative to the planet, which feels kind of extraneous to the question of whether a Hohmann transfer is used or not. Maybe it's the final Hohmann transfer into orbit around Mars they are referring to? That would make sense. Or is that obvious?
Honestly I think they just got the terminology wrong. The only difference between this and a normal Hohmann is the means used to get the final change in velocity at the end. By which time the whole "transfer" part of the show is over. Otherwise it's just a normal transfer orbit.
