14. When already in space, what form of transportation would we use to travel to different places in space? (A K2S Question)

From The Space Library

At first, we likely will use ion propulsion. This is a type of rocket that expels a gas at very high speed—four or five times faster than a typical rocket. Ion propulsion is very efficient per gallon of fuel, but not very strong. It's like using the highest gear on a bicycle—if you are on level ground, you can get going very fast, but you cannot pedal up a steep hill in high gear. Launching from the Earth's surface is like going up a steep hill. Once you are in orbit, even a small push can move you forward. If you can keep that small push going for several weeks or months, you can really build up speed to reach Mars in a few weeks instead of six to eight months.

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Answer provided by David Gump & Gary Hudson

Question and Answer extracted from the book Kids to Space - by Lonnie Schorer

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