A human-operated spaceship reaches the moon in 3 days. The moon is about 386,400 km from Earth. Mars, our closest planetary neighbor, is, at its closest, about 140 times farther away from us than 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?(1 point) Responses about 22.5 years about 22.5 years about 1 year about 1 year about 2.5 years about 2.5 years about 7.5 years

Answer 1

To calculate the time it would take to reach Mars given the information provided, we can start by determining the speed of the spaceship.

1. Calculate the speed of the spaceship:

   • Distance to the Moon = 386,400 km
   • Time to reach the Moon = 3 days = 3 × 24 hours = 72 hours
   • Speed of the spaceship = Distance / Time = 386,400 km / 72 hours ≈ 5,366.67 km/h

2. Distance to Mars:

   • Mars is about 140 times farther than the Moon:
   • Distance to Mars = 386,400 km × 140 = 54,096,000 km

3. Calculate the time to reach Mars:

   • Time = Distance / Speed = 54,096,000 km / 5,366.67 km/h ≈ 10,100 hours

4. Convert hours to years:

   • 10,100 hours ÷ 24 hours/day = 420.83 days
   • 420.83 days ÷ 365 days/year ≈ 1.15 years

Based on this calculation, the closest option is about 1 year.