Good point.
Moreover, it turns out
that this same basic physics leads to the fact that sending anything - e.g..
nuke waste - into the sun is much more difficult (in terms of rocket energy
& propellant expenditure -- specified by the "delta-V" required) than
sending it to Mars or the outer planets. In the latter case, the spacecraft
must be accelerated in order to reach the orbits of the more distant planets,
while in the case of the sun and the inner planets (Venus, Mercury), the
spacecraft must be decelerated, in order to drop into a lower orbit - or the
sun itself. The delta-V's for inner orbits are much higher than for outer
orbits, since the depth of the "gravitational well" increases sharply towards
the sun, and much more "excess energy" must be dissipated in order to drop
down into it (its the reason why exploration of the planet Mercury is so
difficult, compared to the other planets). It would be easier to hit the sun
by sending the spacecraft out to Jupiter and using its gravitational field to
sling-shoot it backwards, in a somewhat more extreme manoeuvre than that which
was used to send the Ulysses solar polar orbiter on its way......
Jaro