@Simon Bridge Thank you for your kind words.
After posting this solution, I was able to see the answer given in the textbook's solution manual. The method there is very confusing. I don't have time to post that solution right now, but I will in a few days.
When I put it up, I'll appreciate...
Escape velocity is an estimate of the launch velocity of a spacecraft (without any propulsion) to overcome a planet system's gravitational pull in order to escape to ``infinity''. In this problem we consider both the gravitational attraction of the Earth and Sun (but ignoring the effects of...