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An osculating orbit and the object's position upon it are fully described by the six standard Keplerian Orbital Elements .

An orbit is usually said to be ''osculating'' to point out that its details change over a relevant time. The most common situations in which osculating orbits are specified are:
  • The orbit of Spacecraft , particularly those powered by Ion Engine s which act to slowly change the orbit's parameters.

  • When considering perturbations of the Keplerian orbit by bodies other than the central body.

  • To contrast the slowly changing osculating Orbital Elements to the Proper Orbital Elements , which remain practically constant over timescales of millions of years.



SEE ALSO



EXTERNAL LINKS

  • Diagram of a sequence of osculating orbits for the escape from Earth orbit by the ion-driven SMART-1 spacecraft: http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object/index.cfm?fobjectid=35722

  • A sequence of osculating orbits for the approach to the Moon by the SMART-1 spacecraft: http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object/index.cfm?fobjectid=36359