• Question: how long does it take to get to the moon

    Asked by anon-245788 to Sam, Samantha, Nicol, Lori-Ann, Liam, David on 11 Mar 2020.
    • Photo: Samantha Faircloth

      Samantha Faircloth answered on 11 Mar 2020:

      Hello Giorgio, the time it takes to get to the Moon has improved. For example, back in 1969, it took nearly 52 hours (which is still pretty quick if you think about it!) but a few years ago (2015), a mission that was actually on its way to Pluto, reached the surface of the Moon in just 8 hours! It depends how much stuff the spaceship has to carry…..more stuff makes it heavier and slower! : -)

    • Photo: Lori-Ann Foley

      Lori-Ann Foley answered on 11 Mar 2020:

      If you launched in your rocket and could go straight there, it should take about 10 hours or less in theory. But once you take off and stop firing your engines, the pull of the Earth’s gravity starts to slow you down. And you have to slow down before you go into orbit or land. And you can’t always just fly straight there but have to go on a bit of a curvy route. So Apollo 11 took two and a half days to get there. It will be interesting to see if the new rockets that plan to go there these days are much faster! 🙂

    • Photo: David Sobral

      David Sobral answered on 11 Mar 2020:

      Something like 1 to 2 days nowadays

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