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The Parker Solar Probe will make its closest approach yet to the Sun

(arstechnica.com)
164 points pseudolus | 1 comments | 20 Dec 24 11:23 UTC | HN request time: 0.42s | source
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FredPret ◴[20 Dec 24 21:04 UTC] No.42475004[source]▶
If KSP is to be believed, this is shockingly difficult to do
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lizzas ◴[20 Dec 24 21:19 UTC] No.42475159[source]▶
The same gravity that wants to pull you in keeps you in orbit. And any object we launch starts off in the suns orbit.
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feoren ◴[20 Dec 24 21:30 UTC] No.42475242[source]▶
> The same gravity that wants to pull you in keeps you in orbit

I would say it's your velocity that keeps you in orbit. Without the velocity, you fall into the star. Without the star's gravity, you keep going away in a straight line. Any object we launch starts off with Earth's velocity.

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1. Terr_ ◴[21 Dec 24 00:21 UTC] No.42476457[source]▶
It's like a joke I recall from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: You are indeed falling towards the ground... but the trick is to miss.

Your lateral velocity is what keeps you missing, whether you want to or not.