this post was submitted on 06 Jan 2025
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It requires a LOT of energy to counter the earth's orbital motion. Hitting the moon is different because the moon is traveling with the earth and you are going outwards. Energy is always part of the equation since orbital mechanics is all about energy. You can't ignore it by saying "Assume 0 costs, how hard would it be?" then we could just say it can approach the speed of light since we are ignoring any energy costs.
"It doesnt have to be moving fast"
But you will be moving fast, you are starting at an angular speed of 30km/s. The Apollo missions with their massive engines reached 11 km/s. Now think of someone wanting to dump hundreds of tons of nuclear waste into the sun and the energy that would require.
Maybe this explains it better:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHvR1fRTW8g