22
votes
“Parabolic”, suborbital and ballistic trajectories all follow elliptic paths. Is there a generic term for these trajectories?
All the analytical orbits I'm aware of are conic sections or conics, including parabolas, ellipses, and hyperbolas. This includes the truncated / terrain-intersecting trajectories you're using as ...
- 13.8k
9
votes
“Parabolic”, suborbital and ballistic trajectories all follow elliptic paths. Is there a generic term for these trajectories?
Having reread the question, I think the correct answer is that there is no natural general term that encompasses all orbital trajectories that intersect the earth. "Suborbital" is logical ...
- 11.4k
8
votes
“Parabolic”, suborbital and ballistic trajectories all follow elliptic paths. Is there a generic term for these trajectories?
A "wise guy" once said:
A bagel is a bagel, and a donut is a donut, and never the twain shall meet.
Prologue
Just because they could be categorized (along with Cheerios and their cousins ...
- 149k
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