22. Doesn't it take a long time to go anywhere in space? Why does it take so long to get to certain places in space? (A K2S Question)

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With current rocket engines and spacecraft technology, it does take a long time to travel anywhere in space. A trip to Mars will take upward of nine months and the other planets will take us many years to reach. It takes so long to get to certain places purely because they are so far away. Some unmanned missions have been able to gain precious extra velocity by flying close to another planet, which acts like a slingshot effect. This is possible when a spacecraft flies close enough to a planet that it is able to 'steal' a little of the planet's orbital velocity. Of course these detours to the route can add time and this will need to be carefully considered for manned missions in the future, as the less time we are in open space and at the risk of receiving harmful radiation doses, the better.

Answer provided by Hazel McAndrews


Image:K2S logosmall.jpg Question and Answer extracted from the book Kids to Space - by Lonnie Schorer


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