The question is: Where is the energy stored in the meantime? Where does the extra energy, if the ship falls into a heavier planet, come from?
From a classical physics perspective everything that has mass is immersed in the gravitational field of everything else, it's just that most of that potential energy turns into kinetic energy only when you get very close to something.
Basically your potential energy is this mind-bogglingly large number which would only approach zero if the whole universe were condensed into a single point.
From a classical physics perspective everything that has mass is immersed in the gravitational field of everything else, it's just that most of that potential energy turns into kinetic energy only when you get very close to something.
Basically your potential energy is this mind-bogglingly large number which would only approach zero if the whole universe were condensed into a single point.