Question

A human-operated space ship reaches the moon in 3 days. The moon is about 386,400 Km from Earth. Mars, our closest plnetary neighbor, is, at its closest, about 140 times farther away from us that the moon if Mars stays in place. Assuming a very simple model of the solar system, about how long would it take that same spaceship to reach Mars?

Answer 1

If Mars is about 140 times farther from Earth than the moon, then the distance between Earth and Mars can be estimated as:

Distance to Mars = Distance to the Moon × 140 = 386,400 km × 140 = 54,096,000 km

Assuming the spaceship maintains the same speed as it did when traveling to the moon, we can calculate the time it would take to reach Mars using the formula:

Time = Distance / Speed

Given that the distance to Mars is 54,096,000 km and the speed remains constant, which we assume to be the same as the speed to reach the moon, the time to reach Mars is:

Time to reach Mars = 54,096,000 km / (386,400 km/day) = 140 days

Therefore, it would take approximately 140 days for the spaceship to reach Mars based on this simple model of the solar system.