Free Fall in Gravitational Theory

Abstract: Einstein's explanation of Mercury's perihelion motion has been verified by astronomical observations. His formula could also be obtained in Schwarzschild metric and was published already in 1898. Motion along a straight geodesic, however, namely, free fall into a gravitational center with vanishing angular momentum, is incorrectly described both by Einstein's and by Schwarzschild's equation of motion. A physical solution for free fall may be obtained by taking into account the dependence of mass on velocity in Newton's gravitational law as adopted in the physics of accelerators.