In astrodynamics or celestial mechanics a parabolic trajectory is an orbit with the eccentricity equal to 1. When moving away from the source it is called an escape orbit, otherwise a capture orbit.

Under standard assumptions a body traveling along an escape orbit will coast to infinity, with velocity relative to the central body tending to zero, and therefore will never return. Parabolic trajectory is a minimum-energy escape trajectory.

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	Orbit - LoveToKnow 1911 (1538 words) Elliptic orbits, and a parabolic orbit considered as the special case when the eccentricity of the ellipse is 1, are almost the only ones the astronomer has to consider, and our attention will therefore be confined to them in the present article. Let the curve represent an elliptic orbit, AB being the major axis, DE the minor axis, and F the focus in which the centre of attraction is situated, which centre we shall call the sun. The problem of determining an orbit may be regarded as coeval with Hipparchus, who, it is supposed, found the moving positions of the apogee and perigee of the moon's orbit. Parabolic trajectory - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (276 words) In astrodynamics or celestial mechanics a parabolic trajectory is an orbit with the eccentricity equal to 1. When moving away from the source it is called an escape orbit, otherwise a capture orbit. is orbital velocity of a body in circular orbit.
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