travel time to mars?

Question

how long would the flight from earth to mars take?

Answer 1

I suspect asker desires current technology travel time; a best fuel economical trajectory with chemical rockets is about 6 months.

Answer 2

The longest it's taken is about a year, and that's because we wanted the probe we sent to go into orbit once it reached Mars. It had to reach Mars moving at a velocity that required very little braking - thus saving the weight of fuel.

The shortest it's taken (to get to Mars' orbit) is about 3 months, with the New Horizon's craft currently heading to Pluto. But, at that speed, you'd need a LOT of fuel to slow yourself down to orbit Mars.

The factors are, "how much fuel can you carry?" and "how much mass are you carrying?"

Mars has a thin atmosphere, which many probes have used for aero-braking - eliminating the need for a lot of fuel - but increasing the need to be accurate in it's trajectory. Generally, if a manned mission were being planned, it would likely be 6 to 9 months in space, Earth to Mars, and that would involve a fairly lengthy stay on the surface, then another 6 to 9 month trip home.

Answer 3

Between 6 to 11 months. Scientist are working to make it come down to 2 to 3 months trip.

Answer 4

I saw a documentary that said as little as 120 days!

Answer 5

12 seconds aprox

Answer 6

Depends on how fast you are going!

Answer 7

with wut? space ship? walking time? miles? you have to define better... but the answer would be long

Answer 8

no clue!!!!! Just long