The sun’s pull thins as you go. At the heliopause, about 11 billion miles out, the solar wind gives way to what lies between stars — Voyager 1 crossed this border in 2012.

Still, the sun’s gravity reaches much farther.

The Oort Cloud marks the final grasp of the sun’s influence. It stretches a light-year from home, maybe two — Out there, the galaxy’s pull matters more than our star’s.

No sudden freedom comes to make you faster. The opposite happens. A ship must fight the sun’s pull the whole way out.

Think of climbing a hill — You work against gravity until you reach the top. After that, you’re still in the valley, just past the worst of it.

We’ve sent five machines beyond the heliopause. None will reach another star for tens of thousands of years.