Sorry if it's a Stupid question, but I'm Really into astronomy, i'm like an Astronomy Nerd .
I know astronomy refers to time as in light years, but in Earth Days, or time ... how long does it take to get to the moon ? THANKS .
I know astronomy refers to time as in light years, but in Earth Days, or time ... how long does it take to get to the moon ? THANKS .
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It is not a stupid question. It is a question that space engineers had to give serious consideration to so they could determine how much oxygen, fuel etc to factor into their calculations. It is also essential when calculating missions to Mars and beyond. Apollo 11 astronauts reached moon orbit in 3 days, 3 hours, 49 minutes back in July 1969. This of course was a manned mission.
By far the fastest mission to fly past the Moon was NASA’s New Horizons Pluto mission. This mission had a speedy launch, rockets powering the probe to over 58,000 km/hr to give it a good start on its long trip to the outer Solar System and Pluto. Although this is impressive, it’s worth keeping in mind that New Horizons was not slowing down to enter lunar orbit (like the Moon-specific missions above), it was probably still accelerating as the Moon was a dot in its rear view window. Still, it took eight hours and thirty-five minutes to cover the 380,000 km distance. Impressive.
By far the fastest mission to fly past the Moon was NASA’s New Horizons Pluto mission. This mission had a speedy launch, rockets powering the probe to over 58,000 km/hr to give it a good start on its long trip to the outer Solar System and Pluto. Although this is impressive, it’s worth keeping in mind that New Horizons was not slowing down to enter lunar orbit (like the Moon-specific missions above), it was probably still accelerating as the Moon was a dot in its rear view window. Still, it took eight hours and thirty-five minutes to cover the 380,000 km distance. Impressive.
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