: Mabey I can make this my next reason to use a calculator: how much force
: would be needed to launch deimos into a solar orbit that leads to deimos
: exiting the solar system at around .039c
One thing to factor in is that the Marathon was driven by a Bussard ramjet and so was continually accelerating the entire time in transit, scooping up fuel from the interstellar medium as it went. So it's not just a matter of launching it from Sol at its average cruising speed; it's a matter of launching it at a speed which, taking into account continuing acceleration (which we'd have to calculate separately, factoring in things like the density of the interstellar medium plus all the technicalities of the hypothetical drive mechanism), leaves its average cruising speed as such (meaning much greater cruising speed by mid-journey, before it has to start braking).