TIL that it takes less energy to launch something out of the solar system than directly into the sun. Apparently its because the massive gravity of the Sun causes objects to orbit instead of pulling objects into itself. Why?

Question

TIL that it takes less energy to launch something out of the solar system than directly into the sun. Apparently its because the massive gravity of the Sun causes objects to orbit instead of pulling objects into itself. Why?

In: Physics

Answer 1

Something you have to consider is that when you launch something from Earth, it also carries Earth’s orbital velocity with it. If you just start nudging it towards the Sun, it’s going to maintain that velocity, and it’s going to make the orbital path really wacky.

If you want to put something into the sun, you need to cancel out Earth’s velocity, and that takes a crapton of energy.