If you wished to travel to Mars, for how long would it take? The answer depends upon a number of factors, ranging from the position of the worlds to the innovation that would propel you there. According to NASA, a one-way trip to Mars would take about 9 months. If you wished to make it a round-trip, all in all, it would take about 21 months as you will need to wait about three months on Mars to make sure Earth and Mars remain in a suitable place to make the trip back home. We have a look at for how long a trip to the Red Planet would take using available innovation and explore some of the elements that would affect your travel time. How far is Mars?To figure out the length of time it will require to reach Mars, we need to first know the range between the two planets.Mars is the fourth world from the sun, and the 2nd closest to Earth (Venus is the closest). The distance between Earth and Mars is constantly changing as they travel around the sun.In theory, the closest that Earth and Mars would approach each other would be when Mars is at its closest point to the sun (perihelion) and Earth is at its farthest (aphelion). This would put the planets just 33.9 million miles (54.6 million kilometers) apart. This has actually never happened in taped history. The closest documented technique of the 2 worlds occurred in 2003 when they were just 34.8 million miles (56 million km) apart.The two planets are farthest apart when they are both at their farthest from the sun, on opposite sides of the star. At this moment, they can be 250 million miles (401 million km) apart.The typical distance in between Earth and Mars is 140 million miles (225 million km). Related: What is the temperature level on Mars?How long would it take to take a trip to Mars at the speed of light?The typical distance in between Earth and Mars the two planets is 140 million miles (225 million km). The range between the 2 worlds affects for how long it would require to travel between the 2. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech) Light journeys at approximately 186,282 miles per second (299,792 km per second). For that reason, a light shining from the surface area of Mars would take the following amount of time to reach Earth (or vice versa): Closest possible method: 182 seconds, or 3.03 minutesClosest taped technique: 187 seconds, or 3.11 minutesFarthest technique: 1,342 seconds, or 22.4 minutesOn average: 751 seconds, or just over 12.5 minutesFastest spacecraft so farThe fastest spacecraft is NASAs Parker Solar Probe, as it keeps breaking its own speed records as it moves closer to the sun. On Nov 21, 2021 the Parker Solar Probe reached a top speed of 101 miles (163 kilometers) per second throughout its 10th close flyby of our star, which translates to an eye-watering 364,621 miles per hour (586,000 kph). According to a NASA statement, when the Parker Solar Probe comes within 4 million miles (6.2 million kilometers) of the solar surface area in December 2024, the spacecrafts speed will top 430,000 miles per hour!NASAs Parker Solar Probe is currently the fastest spacecraft ever launched. (Image credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Steve Gribben) If the Parker Solar Probe managed to accomplish the speeds reached throughout its 10th close flyby of the Sun and took a detour from its sun-focused mission to take a trip in a straight line from Earth to the Red Planet, the time it would require to get to Mars would be: Closest possible method: 93 hours Closest recorded approach: 95 hours Farthest technique: 686 hours (28.5 days) On average: 384 hours (16 days) The issues with calculating travel times to MarsOf course, the problem with the previous computations is that they measure the distance in between the 2 planets as a straight line. Traveling through the farthest death of Earth and Mars would include a journey straight through the sun, while spacecraft should of necessity relocation in orbit around the planetary systems star.Although this isnt an issue for the closest technique, when the worlds are on the very same side of the sun, another issue exists. The numbers likewise presume that the 2 worlds stay at a constant range; that is, when a probe is launched from Earth while the 2 planets are at the closest method, Mars would stay the same distance away over the 39 days it took the probe to take a trip. Related: A brief history of Mars missionsIn reality, however, the planets are continually moving in their orbits around the sun. Engineers need to calculate the perfect orbits for sending out a spacecraft from Earth to Mars. Their numbers consider not only distance however also fuel effectiveness. Like tossing a dart at a moving target, they must determine where the planet will be when the spacecraft arrives, not where it is when it leaves Earth. Spaceships must also slow down to enter orbit around a brand-new world to prevent overshooting it.How long it requires to reach Mars depends upon where in their orbits the 2 worlds lie when an objective is introduced. It also depends on the technological developments of propulsion systems.According to NASA Goddard Space Flight Centers website, the ideal lineup for a launch to Mars would get you to the planet in roughly nine months. The site estimates physics professor Craig C. Patten, of the University of California, San Diego:” It takes the Earth one year to orbit the sun and it takes Mars about 1.9 years (state 2 years for easy calculation) to orbit the sun. The elliptical orbit which carries you from Earth to Mars is longer than Earths orbit however shorter than Mars orbit. Appropriately, we can estimate the time it would take to complete this orbit by balancing the lengths of Earths orbit and Mars orbit. It would take about one and a half years to complete the elliptical orbit.” In the nine months it requires to get to Mars, Mars moves a considerable girth in its orbit, about three-eighths of the way around the sun. You need to prepare to ensure that by the time you reach the range of Mars orbit, Mars is where you require it to be! Virtually, this indicates that you can only begin your journey when Earth and Mars are appropriately lined up. This only occurs every 26 months. That is, there is only one launch window every 26 months.” The trip might be shortened by burning more fuel– a process not ideal with todays technology, Patten said.Evolving innovation can assist to reduce the flight. NASAs Space Launch System (SLS) will be the brand-new workhorse for bring upcoming missions, and potentially humans, to the red world. SLS is presently being constructed and tested, with NASA now targeting a launch in March or April 2022 for its Artemis 1 flight, the very first flight of its SLS rocket.Robotic spacecraft could one day make the trip in just three days. Photon propulsion would rely on an effective laser to speed up spacecraft to speeds approaching the speed of light. Philip Lubin, a physics professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and his group are dealing with the Directed Energy Propulsion for Interstellar Exploration (DEEP-IN). The method might propel a 220-lb. (100 kgs) robotic spacecraft to Mars in just three days, he stated.” There are current advances which take this from science fiction to science truth,” Lubin said at the 2015 NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) fall seminar. “Theres no recognized reason we can not do this.” For how long did past missions require to reach Mars?Here is an infographic detailing for how long it took a number of historic objectives to reach the Red Planet (either orbiting or landing on the surface). Their launch dates are included for perspective. ( Image credit: Future) Additional resourcesExplore NASAs lunar expedition plans with their Moon to Mars introduction. You can check out how to get individuals from Earth to Mars and safely back again with this useful short article on The Conversation. Curious about the human health dangers of a mission to the Red Planet? You might discover this research study paper of particular interest. Bibliography.
The distance in between Earth and Mars is constantly changing as they take a trip around the sun.In theory, the closest that Earth and Mars would approach each other would be when Mars is at its closest point to the sun (perihelion) and Earth is at its farthest (aphelion). Related: What is the temperature level on Mars?How long would it take to take a trip to Mars at the speed of light?The average distance in between Earth and Mars the 2 planets is 140 million miles (225 million km). Spaceships need to also decelerate to get in orbit around a brand-new world to prevent overshooting it.How long it takes to reach Mars depends on where in their orbits the two planets lie when an objective is introduced. The elliptical orbit which brings you from Earth to Mars is longer than Earths orbit however shorter than Mars orbit.” In the nine months it takes to get to Mars, Mars moves a considerable distance around in its orbit, about three-eighths of the way around the sun.