--- title: "Astronomer Explores Possibility of Launching Bad People Into Sun" description: "If, for some reason, we as a society executed villains by firing them into the Sun, this is how an astronomers says we would do it." date: "2025-11-18" modified: "2025-11-18" authors: - name: "Frank Landymore" job_title: "Contributing Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/flandymore" url: "https://futurism.com/space/astronomers-launch-people-into-sun" categories: - "Astronomy" - "Space" --- # Astronomer Explores Possibility of Launching Bad People Into Sun ![If, for some reason, we as a society executed villains by firing them into the Sun, this is how an astronomers says we would do it.]() *Illustration by Tag Hartman-Simkins / Futurism. Source: Getty Images* We are not advocates of executing people in cruel and unusual ways here on *Futurism*, but we have to admit we are intrigued by this astronomer's proposal of launching bad people into [the Sun](). Of course, as the associate professor of astronomy at Monash University Michael JI Brown explains: the concept "sounds easy enough," but "may be harder than you think." And the reasons why are fascinating — at least from a perspective of physics, rather than criminal justice. First, the rocket carrying our hypothetical villain deserving of a dramatic demise has to be going incredibly fast to break free of Earth's gravity — at least 11 kilometers per second, or over 25,000 miles per hour. Let's say we have a rocket capable of that, and we point it straight at the Sun — what then? "The results are, to be honest, disappointing," Brown writes in a hopefully tongue-in-cheek [essay for *The Conversation*](). "We miss the Sun by almost 100 million kilometers." As you may have surmised, that's because the Earth is revolving around the Sun at around 30 kilometers per second, pushing our spacecraft off-course. "When our rocket leaves the proximity of the Earth it is traveling faster around the Sun than towards the Sun," Brown explained. "At first the rocket gets closer to the Sun. But the motion of the rocket around the Sun and gravity results in an elliptical orbit that misses the Sun entirely." Our launch trajectory, then, needs to counteract Earth's orbit, which is no small feat, either. The rocket would need to break through [low Earth orbit]() at 32 kilometers per second, while travelling in the opposite direction of our planet's orbit. Once the rocket breaks free from the Earth's grasp, it enters the Sun's domain, where it is effectively not moving at all relative to the star. "At this point the Sun's gravity would pull the rocket (and the villain contained therein) inexorably inward," Brown wrote. "Given this is a journey of 150 million km, the trip would take roughly 10 weeks — plenty of time for our villain to consider their sins before fiery destruction." So, problem solved, right? Maybe in a future when we have much more powerful rockets, but right now, no. As Brown notes, the fastest ever spacecraft to leave Earth was NASA's New Horizons probe which launched in 2006 and [reached its first destination Pluto]() in 2015. It reached a top launch velocity of 16.26 kilometers per second, which is only half of what we need to execute our villain. But Brown suggests we could use other planets like [Jupiter]() for a gravity assist. By slingshotting around the planet's orbit, our rocket could pick up significant speed. New Horizons did this by flying around the gas giant in 2007, speeding up by 14,000 kilometers per hour, and shortening its journey to Pluto by three years. "We can use the same process to get our villain into the Sun. We can launch them into an orbit that takes them past the planets," Brown concludes. "With each planetary flyby their orbit is reshaped by gravity, taking our villain onto the next flyby and moving them closer and closer to the Sun." **More on people in alarming proximity to the Sun:** [*Astonishing Photo Shows Man Skydiving Through Sun*]() ## Author At Futurism, my work has often centered on bringing a sense of clarity and insight to complex topics ranging from the regulation of emerging technologies to the esoteric ideologies of Silicon Valley executives, while striving not to lose the poetic sense of awe inspired by often-obscure fields like astrophysics and quantum computing. I broke the story of CNET using AI to produce articles that turned out to be riddled with factual errors and plagiarism — a dam-breaking inflection point, as I've reported, that's inspired copycats and endless discourse while beguiling stakeholders ranging from tech giants to purveyors of spam around the web. My work at Futurism has been cited by publications including CBS News, the Los Angeles Times, Vice, Gizmodo, Engadget, the Verge, and Vanity Fair. I grew up in locales ranging from India to China, and now live in the exotic suburbs of Virginia. In my free time, I'm an avid reader of weird sci-fi literature, an aficionado of East Asian cinema, and, regrettably, a relapsed gamer. Allegedly, I’m working on a debut novel, currently untitled. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()