Have you ever looked at a full moon and seen all the grooves and details on it more than usual? For a moment, it seems close to the Earth, but it is actually far away. It would be so nice to go into space and see all those wonders hiding there.
The journey into space, however, has been experienced by slightly over 500 people to date. For a few hours or days in space, they were trained for years, and they traveled for a long time. Our technology has advanced. Rockets are getting lighter and modernized. Why does then space-traveling take so long?
The reason why space travel takes so long is that the universe is very, very big. It takes millions of miles to get to the desired location. Rocket production is becoming more sophisticated, but it still does not allow for fast travel. For a rocket to reach its desired location, it cannot simply cross the path but must go through space in a spiral according to gravity to get the desired point.
Traveling into space is not as easy as it seems. The same laws of gravity do not apply in outer space. It takes a lot of time to plan a trip. The solar system is constantly changing. Planets, moons, and the Sun move in their orbits, changing the universe from day-to-day. Space travel must adapt to these conditions and respect gravity laws, which greatly prolongs travel time.
How long does space travel take?
For space travel to begin at all, it is necessary to send a rocket into space. Perhaps this is also the most difficult part of the job, given that the earth’s gravity does not allow such easy separation from it.
A speed of 40,000 km / h is required to separate it from the ground. Its subsequent velocity depends on the amount of fuel the rocket emits. The rocket’s fuel supply, however, is limited so that the rocket can take off from Earth at all.
The journey begins rather slowly, but after the first minute, the shuttle travels at a speed of more than 1,609 km / h and consumes more than half a million pounds of fuel. After only a few minutes, the spacecraft passes the Karman Line and comes into space. A real journey into space begins with crossing a line and changing gravity.
How long the trip will take depends on the point you want to get to. To get from Earth to our nearest planet Venus, it takes a distance of 25 million miles, while Neptune is more than 2 billion miles away. But that’s not the end. Since the planets are constantly moving, space travel can take longer than the distance if the planets are currently on opposite sides of the sun.
For example, you will arrive at the International Space Station in one day. It will take 3 months to travel to Venus, 12 years to reach Neptune, while the journey to Jupiter can take between thirteen months and eight years.
How long does it take to get back from space to Earth?
After the astronauts complete their mission in space, they will return to Earth. The return of the shuttle from space is mostly done by a computer. In the case of a breakdown, there is a possibility of a manual landing. The answer to this question depends on where exactly you are coming from space back to Earth. For example, it takes just over 3 hours to return to Earth from the International Space Station.
To return to Earth, astronauts must know how the air resistance and the laws of gravity work. The aircraft should be placed at a certain angle to reduce the landing speed. The speed at which the spacecraft returns creates incredible heat and makes it appear as if the spacecraft is burning. Return to Earth is not possible without a heat shield.
Once the spacecraft enters the Earth’s atmosphere, it takes approximately 13 minutes and half an hour to touch the surface. This of course depends on the type of spacecraft used for space travel. At an altitude of 8.5 km above the ground, parachutes open and the aircraft lands in the ocean or on the surface. Russian spaceships land on the plains of Kazakhstan in Central Asia, while most American spaceships land in the ocean.
Why do spaceships travel so fast?
When the spaceship leaves the atmosphere, a completely different gravity reigns in space. The universe is a vacuum in which there is no air resistance or friction to slow down the spaceship. To reach maximum speed spacecraft is equipped with launch vehicles that send them into space by using chemical rocket engines. They use fuel and oxygen to produce high-pressure gas that pushes them in the opposite direction from the gas discharge. In the context of takeoff, opposite from the ground.
The take-off speed seems high, but it is nothing compared to the speed that a spaceship achieves after exiting the Earth’s atmosphere. When the spacecraft reaches a height of 200 km above the ground, the engines shut down. The spaceship drains the used fuel tank to make it lighter and continues to move. Engines ignite only in case the spaceship wants to change direction. Once cruising speed is reached in orbit, astronauts no longer feel the speed and pressure they feel during takeoff and landing.
A spaceship can fly in the atmosphere at the same speed as in space, but not for long. The higher the speed, the higher the air resistance. The air resistance provided by the atmosphere quickly slows down the spacecraft so the force of the atmosphere is used instead of fuel to slow it down. To slow down the fall, a huge parachute is opened and small rockets are used just before landing to further slow down the landing.
How far from Earth is space?
To estimate how long space travel lasts, we need to define what space is. We define the Earth’s atmosphere as space up to 62 kilometers above us. The boundary that separates the Earth’s atmosphere from outer space is called the Karman Line.
Theodore von Karman calculated that at an altitude of about 100 kilometers above the Earth’s surface the atmosphere has such a low density that the airplane can not fly at that height. In this area, the laws of aeronautics cease to apply and the laws of space flight start to apply.
The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale believes that space begins 100 kilometers above the Earth’s surface plus 1 meter. NASA considers this limit to be 80 kilometers above the earth’s surface. Simple said, objects below the Karman Line will fall back to Earth, while objects above the Karman Line will fly into space.
Harry George Armstrong calculated that above 20 kilometers from the earth’s surface a man cannot survive more than a few minutes without an astronaut suit. A line over 20 kilometers is called the Armstong line. The space between this Armstrong Line (20 km + 1 m) and the Karman Line (100 km + 1 m) is called close space.
The correct answer to this question, however, would be that the universe is all around us. We find ourselves in space, but usually, as space, we experience only what is outside of the earth’s atmosphere.
How long does it take to get to Moon?
The Moon is the Earth’s solitary natural satellite. To get to the Earth’s satelitte, it takes 3 days to travel. Distance between Earth and Moon, also known as Lunar distance, is 386,400 kilometers on average. The moon orbits the Earth in an irregular circle. How long the trip will last depends on how far the moon is at the moment of the travel and which path do we choose. Neil Armstrong traveled to the moon for 76 hours.
How long does it take to get to Mars?
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second closest to Earth. The journey to Mars takes seven months. As in the case of the Moon, the exact time of space travel depends on when the journey takes place. Mars was closest to Earth in 2003 at a distance of only 56 million kilometers. When both planets are farthest from the Sun, the distance between them is more than 401 million kilometers. Given the difference in distance, the travel time will vary between six and seven months.
Engineers have to predict exactly where Mars will be on the day the spaceship should land because it will no longer be in the same place as it was when it took off from Earth. The position of Mars at the time of landing depends on how much fuel the spacecraft will need. The fastest route to Mars is called the Hohmann Transfer Orbit. How long it will take you to get to Mars also depends on what technology or vehicle you are using.