ballistics

[Daniel Stein]

Ignoring (one hopes) all the higher-order and corrective terms to the
dynamical equation (such as air resistance, duration of powered flight,
curvature of space-time, poetic license, etc.), a parabola (and only a
parabola) is the geometry of the trajectory of an object launched with
EXACTLY the escape velocity relative to its primary. Perhaps this is the
fate of poor Gottfried...



Daniel J. Stein        {; < 0>         stein at magma.geol.ucsb.edu
Geological Sciences                http://www.geol.ucsb.edu/~stein
University of California        (805) 893-8130 (voice)
Santa Barbara, CA 93106        (805) 893-2314 (fax)