4 ms·
Depends where it is, but probably not. Repeated gravitational assists from things much closer would probably beat slingshotting around whatever this is, if ther
by petewailes 10y ago
Depends where it is, but probably not. Repeated gravitational assists from things much closer would probably beat slingshotting around whatever this is, if there's something there.
- mrfusion 10y agoWhy would that be? Is t there more orbital energy in things far away?
- yongjik 10y agoNo, the amount of speed you gain (delta-v) is, at an ideal condition, twice the orbital velocity of the planet (or moon) you're flying by. (Imagine throwing a ping-pong ball at a truck. If the truck is at rest, you get the same speed back. If the truck is running at 60 mph, you may go to jail, but assuming you don't, you get back a 120 mph ping-pong ball.) A planet that far away from the sun must be moving at a very slow speed (otherwise it will escape the solar system altogether), so you can't gain much speed flying by.
- mrfusion 10y agoThat sounds backwards to me.