Want to travel to Mars? Here’s how long the trip could take.

Nuclear engines or not, you're gonna need a lot of PTO to get to the Red Planet.

By Eva Botkin-Kowacki | Published Feb 21, 2023 6:00 AM EST

The icy white south pole of Mars, with red soil all around.

Despite what Star Trek’s warp-speed journeys would have us believe, interplanetary travel is quite the hike. Take getting to Mars. Probes sent to the Red Planet by NASA and other space agencies spend about seven months in space before they arrive at their destination. A trip for humans would probably be longer—likely on the timescale of a few years. 

There are a lot of things that a human crew needs to survive that robots don’t, such as food, water, oxygen, and enough supplies for a return—the weight of which can slow down a spacecraft. With current technology, NASA calculations estimate a crewed mission to Mars and back, plus time on the surface , could take somewhere between two and three years. “Three years we know for sure is feasible,” says Michelle Rucker, who leads NASA’s Mars Architecture Team in the agency’s ​​ Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate .

But NASA aims to shorten that timeline, in part because it would make a Mars mission safer for humans—we still don’t know how well the human body can withstand the environment of space for an extended period. (The record for most consecutive days in space is 437.) The agency is investing in projects to develop new propulsion technologies that might enable more expeditious space travel. 

A crooked path to Mars

In a science-fictional world, a spacecraft would blast off Earth and head directly to Mars. That trajectory would certainly make for a speedier trip. But real space travel is a lot more complicated than going from point A to point B.

“If you had all the thrust you want, you could ignore the fact that there happens to be gravity in our universe and just plow all the way through the solar system,” says Mason Peck , a professor of astronautics at Cornell University who served as NASA’s chief technologist from 2011 to 2013. “But that’s not a scenario that’s possible right now.”

Such a direct trajectory has several challenges. As a spacecraft lifts off Earth, it needs to escape the planet’s gravitational pull, which requires quite a bit of thrust. Then, in space, the force of gravity from Earth, Mars, and the sun pulls the spacecraft in different directions. When it is far enough away, it will settle into orbit around the sun. Bucking that gravity requires fuel-intensive maneuvers.

[Related: Signs of past chemical reactions detected on Mars ]

The second challenge is that the planets do not stay in a fixed place. They orbit the sun, each at its own rate: Mars will not be at the same distance from Earth when the spacecraft launches as the Red Planet will be, say, seven months later. 

As such, the most fuel-efficient route to Mars follows an elliptical orbit around the sun, Peck says. Just one-way, that route covers hundreds of millions of miles and takes over half a year, at best. 

But designing a crewed mission to the Red Planet isn’t just about figuring out how fast a spacecraft can get there and back. It’s about “balance,” says Patrick Chai, in-space propulsion lead for NASA’s Mars Architecture Team . “There are a whole bunch of decisions we have to make in terms of how we optimize for certain things. Where do we trade performance for time?” Chai says. “If you just look at one single metric, you can end up making decisions that are really great for that particular metric, but can be problematic in other areas.”

One major trade-off for speed has to do with how much stuff is on board. With current technology, every maneuver to shorten the trip to Mars requires more fuel. 

If you drive a car, you know that in order to accelerate the vehicle, you step on the gas. The same is true in a spacecraft, except that braking and turning also use fuel. To slow down, for instance, a spacecraft fires its thrusters in the opposite direction to its forward motion.

But there are no gas stations in space. More fuel means more mass on board. And more mass requires more fuel to propel that extra mass through the air… and so on. Trimming a round-trip mission down to two years is when this trade-off starts to become exponentially less efficient, Rucker says. At least, that’s with current technology.

New tech to speed up the trip

NASA would like to be able to significantly reduce that timeline. In 2018, the space agency requested proposals for technological systems that could enable small, uncrewed missions to fly from Earth to Mars in 45 days or less . 

At the time, the proposals didn’t gain much traction. But the challenge inspired engineers to design innovative propulsion systems that don’t yet exist. And now, NASA has begun to fund the development of leading contenders. In particular, the space agency has its eye on nuclear propulsion.

Spacecraft currently rely largely on chemical propulsion. “You basically take an oxidizer and a fuel, combine them, and they combust, and that generates heat. You accelerate that heated product through a nozzle to generate thrust,” explains NASA’s Chai. 

Engineers have known for decades that a nuclear-based system could generate more thrust using a significantly smaller amount of fuel than a chemical rocket. They just haven’t built one yet—though that might be about to change.

One of NASA’s nuclear investment projects aims to integrate a nuclear thermal engine into an experimental spacecraft. The Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations , or DRACO, program, is a collaboration with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), and aims to demonstrate the resulting technology as soon as 2027 .

[Related: Microbes could help us make rocket fuel on Mars ]

The speediest trip to Mars might come from another project, however. This concept, the brainchild of researchers at the University of Florida and supported by a NASA grant, seeks to achieve what Chai calls the “holy grail” of nuclear propulsion: a combination system that pairs nuclear thermal propulsion with an electric kind. 

“We did some preliminary analysis, and it seems like we can get pretty close to [45 days],” says the leader of that project, Ryan Gosse, a professor of practice in the University of Florida’s in-house applied research program, Florida Applied Research in Engineering (FLARE). One caveat: That timeline is for a light payload and no humans on board. However, if the project is successful, the technology could potentially be scaled up in the future to support a crewed mission.

The proposed DRACO nuclear propulsion rocket designed by DARPA, which could mean it doesn't take as long to travel to Mars. Concept art.

There are two types of nuclear propulsion, and both have their merits. Nuclear thermal propulsion, which uses heat, can generate a lot of thrust quickly from a small amount of fuel. Nuclear electric propulsion, which uses charged particles, is even more fuel-efficient but generates thrust much more slowly.

“While you’re in deep space, the electric propulsion is really great because you have all the time in the world to thrust. The efficiency, the miles per gallon, is far, far superior than the high-thrust,” Chai says. “But when you’re around planets, you want that oomph to get you out of the gravity well.”

The challenge, however, is that both technologies currently require different types of nuclear reactors, says Gosse. And that means two separate systems, which reduces the efficiency of having a nuclear propulsion system. So Gosse and his team are working to develop technology that can use the one system to generate both types of propulsion.

NASA’s Mars architecture team is also working with a bimodal concept that uses a chemical propulsion system to maneuver around planets and solar-powered electric propulsion to do the thrusting in deep space.

“What we are developing is different tools for the toolbox,” says NASA’s Rucker. “One tool isn’t going to be enough to do all of the exploration that we want to do. So we’re working on all of these.”

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How Long Does It Take to Get to Mars?

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NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter

All eyes are on the red planet lately. Thanks to a number of missions in the past few years – including the Perseverance Rover that touched down Feb. 22, 2021 – Mars is increasingly interesting to astronomers, astrophysicists and future astronauts. NASA plans to put astronauts on Mars in the future, and Elon Musk keeps claiming he'll do it first , but before we strap in and blast off, it helps to know exactly how long it takes to get to there.

Mars completes one turn around the sun every 687 Earth days . This means that the distance between Earth and Mars changes every day, and the two planets are aligned closely to one another roughly every 26 months . Additionally, because both Earth and Mars have elliptical orbits (and Mars' is more elliptical than Earth's), some of our close approaches are closer than others. The most recent notable close approach was Oct. 6, 2020, when Mars was just 38.57 million miles (62.07 million kilometers) from Earth.

So how long does it take to travel the almost 40 million miles to Mars? That depends on your speed. For example, the Perseverance rover traveled at a speed of about 24,600 mph (about 39,600 kph) and the journey took seven months , but that's because of where the Earth and Mars were at the time Perseverance was launched and where they were when it landed. If you could travel as fast as the New Horizons spacecraft (which is famous for visiting Pluto back in 2015), you could potentially reach Mars in as little as 39 days depending on the alignment of the planets and the 36,000 mph (58,000 kph) speed that New Horizons reached. Historically, spacecraft have taken anywhere between 128 days (Mariner 7 on a flyby) and 333 days (Viking 2 Orbiter/Lander, the second U.S. landing on Mars) .

Since no human has traveled to Mars yet, we don't have exact numbers on how fast it's possible to go – because remember, you need to slow down as you get closer to Mars. The best estimates are that human missions to Mars will be timed to take advantage of a good planetary alignment. Most estimates put the travel time in the range of 150-300 days – that's five to 10 months – and the average is usually around seven months , just like the Perseverance rover.

The two fastest travel times from Earth to Mars are for the Viking 6 and Viking 7 spacecraft, which took 155 and 128 days respectively . Both of these spacecraft were on flyby missions to image Mars, so they didn't need to slow down as they approached Mars as orbiters, landers and rovers need to do.

Frequently Answered Questions

Why can we only go to mars every 2 years.

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SpaceX: Here’s the Timeline for Getting to Mars and Starting a Colony

SpaceX is aiming for a much faster timeframe, with a series of 10 launches to start a city by 2050. Here’s how it looks.

Elon Musk has a grand plan for getting humanity out of the confines of Earth, setting off to the moon, Mars, and even further reaches of the solar system. Musk has regularly estimated that humans could establish a city on Mars as early as 2050.

As CEO of SpaceX, he has led the development of the Starship. The rocket is designed to refuel and relaunch using liquid hydrogen and methane, unlike the rocket propellant used in the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy. That means astronauts will be able to set up refueling depots around the solar system, hopping from planet to planet. Still under development, the Starship could see its first commercial flight as early as 2021 .

Many plans for a Mars settlement expect a community in matters of decades. The United Arab Emirates aims for a city of 600,000 by 2117. Astrobiologist Lewis Dartnell told Inverse in October that “while the first human mission to land on Mars will likely take place in the next two decades, it will probably be more like 50-100 years before substantial numbers of people have moved to Mars to live in self-sustaining towns.”

SpaceX is aiming for a much, much faster timeframe, with a series of 10 launches to start a city by 2050. Here’s how it looks:

SpaceX’s Mars Plan: 2019

The company is set to hold the first “hop tests” for its Mars-bound Starship this year, seeing if the rocket can jump a few hundred kilometers. SpaceX has been developing a test facility in Boca Chica, Texas, shipping over 300,000 cubic yards of locally-sourced soil. In July 2018, the firm took shipment of a 95,000-gallon liquid oxygen tank, around the same capacity as 20 tanker trucks. It’s also completed a 600-kilowatt solar array and two ground station antennas that may also prove useful for Crew Dragon missions. In October 2018, it took shipment of the final major ground tank system to support the initial flights.

CEO Elon Musk previously described these tests as “fly out, turn around, accelerate back real hard and come in hot to test the heat shield because we want to have a highly reusable heat shield that’s capable of absorbing the heat from interplanetary entry velocities.” The tests were originally set to take place in the first few weeks of 2019, but a storm blew over the “hopper” test vehicle.

The firm completed its first hop test firing in April, reaching a few centimeters off the ground. More are expected later this year.

SpaceX's final Starship Hopper

SpaceX's final Starship Hopper

Assuming all goes well, it’s onto the next stage. In January, Musk claimed that the first orbital Starship prototype may arrive as early as June, which could help accelerate testing and move select plans to an earlier stage of the schedule.

SpaceX’s Mars Plan: 2020

As the United States holds its next presidential election, SpaceX will be working on the next stage of Starship tests. This year’s tests cover the booster, as well as high altitude, high-velocity flights. The team is expected to conduct a number of test flights before actually placing anyone on board. An orbital Starship could make its flight debut at this time.

SpaceX’s Mars Plan: 2021

The Starship is set to embark on its first commercial flight. Jonathan Hofeller, SpaceX vice president of commercial sales, revealed at a conference in Indonesia that the plan is to host the first flight around this time.

The Starship’s first voyage could see it send a commercial satellite into space for one of three telecoms firms. That sounds like a job for the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy, but if all goes well it could prove the Starship’s viability for future missions and help fund its further development.

“You could potentially recapture a satellite and bring it down if you wanted to,” Hofeller said. “It’s very similar to the [space] shuttle bay in that regard. So we have this tool, and we are challenging the industry: what would you do with it?”

SpaceX’s Mars Plan: 2022

This could be the first year that SpaceX reaches Mars. At the International Astronautical Congress in Adelaide, Australia, in September 2017, Musk suggested this year as the point at which at least two unmanned ships could make their way to Mars. The two planets will be at an ideal point to send a rocket in 2022, a phenomenon that occurs roughly every two years.

SpaceX previously released concept art of the Starship on its way to distant planets, based around the older design rather than the more recent stainless steel iteration pictured above:

The BFR.

The Starship.

“I feel fairly confident that we can complete the ship and prepare the ship for launch in about five years,” he said. “Five years feels like a long time to me.”

The ships would place power, mining and life support infrastructure for future flights. They would also confirm water resources and identify hazards. Each ship would carry around 100 tons of supplies.

However, in February, Musk suggested that SpaceX has more pressing missions:

SpaceX’s Mars Plan: 2023

This is the year when SpaceX is expected to send Japanese billionaire Yukazu Maezawa , alongside six to eight artists, on a trip around the moon using the Starship. While not specifically a Mars-focused mission, its success would bode well for a future manned mission. Based on Musk’s February comments, this could be the first major mission for the Starship.

spacex lunar mission track

The path that Starship will take when on the Lunar Mission.

SpaceX’s Mars Plan: 2024

It’s time for another election for president of the United States. It’s also the next time that the Earth and Mars are suitably aligned to send a rocket.

There’s a high chance that, based on Musk’s previous comments, SpaceX will not send two cargo ships to Mars in 2022 as previously suggested. If this prediction holds true, this will be the next ideal moment that SpaceX can send the cargo ships and lay the groundwork for a further mission.

If SpaceX has sent the two cargo ships by this stage, the next step will be the manned mission. The plan is to send two cargo ships, alongside two crew ships taking the first people to Mars. They will be tasked with setting up a propellant production plant, combining Martian water, ice, and carbon dioxide to create methane and liquid oxygen to fuel the ships and come back home. The humans would be tasked with collecting one tonne of ice every day to fuel the plant.

The first humans will also likely have to use solar-powered hydroponics to feed the plants and grow more food. Musk said in a February interview that the technology, which allows plants to grow without soil, is already in use on Earth and the same techniques could immediately apply to the Mars colony.

The BFR.

The Starship on Mars.

In short, it’s not going to be a leisurely visit. Musk stated at the South by Southwest Festival in Austin, Texas in March this year, that Mars and the moon “are often thought of as some escape hatch for rich people, but it won’t be that at all.”

SpaceX’s Mars Plan: 2025

This is the earliest point at which Musk thinks a Mars colony could take shape . The CEO has predicted a timeframe of “7 to 10 years” before the first bases take shape.

This will expand on the work left behind by the first humans. Paul Wooster, principal Mars development engineer for SpaceX, explained that “the idea would be to expand out, start off not just with an outpost, but grow into a larger base, not just like there are in Antarctica, but really a village, a town, growing into a city and then multiple cities on Mars.” The larger cities would offer habitats, greenhouses, life support, and enable new experiments that help to answer some of the big questions about life on Mars.

A Mars city.

A potential future Mars city.

SpaceX’s Mars Plan: 2026

This could be the next time that SpaceX sends more ships to Mars. Musk explained on Twitter that the company could use 10 orbital synchronizations to complete a city by the year 2050. With the two planets set to align in February 2027, this could be about the right time to complete another launch.

SpaceX’s Mars Plan: Beyond

By the end of the next decade, SpaceX expects to have some sort of settlement on Mars. Musk has said there’s a 70 percent chance he’ll visit Mars himself in his lifetime, perhaps paying a visit to this developing colony. That is, depending on how the first settlements go — Musk said in 2016 that “probably people will die,” but “ultimately, it will be very safe to go to Mars, and it will be very comfortable.”

Mars could perhaps serve as a base for more ambitious missions, with Musk describing the Starship as “really intended as an interplanetary transport system that’s capable of getting from Earth to anywhere in the solar system as you establish propellant depots along the way.”

SpaceX's BFR in action.

Leaving for further adventures.

Beyond transforming humanity into a space-faring civilization, it could also preserve the species. SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell said in April that “if something were to happen on Earth, you need humans living somewhere else…I think you need multiple paths to survival, and this is one of them.”

Related video: Elon Musk Predicts Our Future On Mars At SXSW 2018

estimated travel time to mars

Planet Mars

  • How Long Would It Take To Travel To Mars?

Humanity has dreamed of travelling to Mars for decades. As of yet, the only place humans have set foot on (other than Earth) is the moon . The moon presented humanity with one of its greatest challenges, yet in 1969, NASA overcame the challenge when the astronauts of Apollo 11 set foot on the lunar surface. Ever since the Apollo Program ended, NASA has slowly been developing the technology required to send humans to Mars. One of the primary purposes of the International Space Station has been to study the long term effects of space travel on the human body. In order for humans to eventually travel to Mars, they will need to survive in space for extended periods of time, yet just how long would it take to travel to Mars?

Distance To Mars

Mars

Mars is the second closest planet to Earth after Venus , yet it is still very far away. On average, the distance between Mars and Earth is about 140 million miles (225 million kilometres). To traverse that distance would likely take several months to years depending on how fast of a rocket you have. However, the distance between Mars and Earth actually changes. Both Mars and Earth orbit the sun in ellipses, meaning the  distance between them and the sun changes during their orbits. When the Earth is at furthest point from the sun and Mars is at its closest approach, the two planets are at their closest distance. When Mars and Earth happen to align in just the right way, the distance between them can be 34 million miles (54.6 million kilometres). That is significantly lower than the average distance between the two planets, and so it would make sense to send humans to Mars when the two planets are at their closest approach to each other. Unfortunately, this alignment does not happen often. The closest distance between Earth and Mars ever recorded was in 2003, when the two planets came within 35 million miles (56 million kilometres) of each other. An event such as this will only occur every couple hundred years, with the next closest approach predicted to happen in the year 2237. 

Mars and Earth rarely lineup so that the distance between them is at its minimum, but astronomers still take advantage of the fact that, at some points in their orbits, Mars and Earth are much closer together than on average. Every 26 months, Mars and Earth line up in such a way that it is most efficient to send spacecraft to the Red Planet. This means that there is one launch window to Mars every 26 months. 

Speed Of A Rocket

Mars rover

The distance to Mars itself is not the only factor that will determine how long it takes to travel to Mars. The speed at which a spacecraft moves will also determine the length of the trip. Past missions to Mars have generally taken anywhere from 128 days to nearly one full year. With current technology and rocket designs, NASA estimates that the first rockets carrying humans to Mars will achieve speeds of about 24,600 miles per hour (39,600 kilometres per hour). Moving at these speeds, it would take approximately seven months to reach the surface of Mars.

What If You Went Faster?

Assuming the technology is advanced enough, how quickly could you reach Mars? Currently, the fastest human-made object is the Parker Solar Probe, which has achieved speeds of 364,660 miles per hour (586,860 kilometers kilometres per hour). Moving at this speed, it would take about two weeks to reach Mars while it’s at its average distance from Earth. Travelling to Mars within only two weeks would be astonishing, yet unfortunately it would not be possible with current technology. The Parker Solar Probe has been able to attain such extreme speeds by slingshotting itself around the sun multiple times. In the far future, if humanity ever develops the technology to travel near the speed of light , we could travel to Mars in less than five minutes. For now, the first astronauts to travel to Mars will have to wait several months in space before arriving at the Red Planet. 

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StarLust

How long does it take to get to Mars?

Last Updated: December 13, 2022

If you’ve ever looked up at the night sky and wondered what it would be like to visit Mars, you’re not alone. Mars, the fourth planet from the Sun, has long been the subject of human curiosity and exploration.

For centuries, humans have been fascinated by the red planet, and with recent advances in space technology, the dream of traveling to Mars is closer than ever. But just how long does it take to get there?

The answer, of course, is not a simple one. There are many factors that can affect the duration of a journey to Mars, including the trajectory of the spacecraft, the speed of the spacecraft, and the position of Mars in its orbit around the Sun.

In this article, we’ll take a closer look at these factors and provide some examples of past and future missions to Mars to give you a sense of the range of possible travel times.

Going to Mars, Facts to Consider

Mars, the Earth, and all the others planets are constantly revolving around the Sun. This means that their position is always different. For example, Earth moves around the Sun at a speed of 18 miles / 30 kilometers per second.

When we look at Mars, it moves with a speed of 14.3 miles / 23.3 kilometers per second around the Sun. Before starting a trip to mars, astronomers have to calculate the best position to launch a spacecraft toward it. 

This means that they need to estimate at what point in time will the Red Giant be and in what direction the spacecraft will be launched. You also have to consider that you can’t launch a spacecraft at any point in time to reach Mars at an exact timeframe. You have to consider the position of both planets beforehand. 

Take this into consideration. Mars is at an average distance of 140 million miles / 225 million kilometers away from Earth. In 2003, our planets reached their closest point (perihelion) at a distance of only 33.9 million mi / 54.6 million km. However, this approach doesn’t happen every month. It occurs every two years or so. The aphelion or farthest distance between Mars and Earth is at 250 million mi / 401 million km.

Related reading: How Far Away is Mars From Earth Right Now?

You can imagine all the different necessary calculations and estimations that astronomers must go through when preparing for a trip to Mars. Not to mention that you also need to take into account that if you reach Mars, you will also need to stay for several months there until the planets are in the perfect position to maximize your fuel efficiency. 

Some predictions for a human-crewed mission to Mars and back to Earth are situated at the 21-month mark. But it may take more or less depending on the technology involved. You also need to consider all the possible delays or unexpected issues.

Picture of Mars in the night sky, seen without the help of a telescope or binoculars.

The Necessary Speed to Reach Mars

The Apollo 11 mission to the Moon reached an incredible top speed of 25,000 mph to reach the Moon in four days. If you were to go to Mars with the same technology, you would reach it in two and a half months. Yet, you must consider that maintaining this speed for so long is impossible. Not to mention the amount of fuel you would need, which implies a more massive spacecraft to store it, and since the spacecraft size will be different, other factors will affect your speed and fuel consumption.

Currently, the fastest spacecraft we have is NASA’s Parker Solar Probe . In 2021, the Parker Solar Probe reached a top speed of 364,621 mph / 586,000 kph. This is 14.5 times faster than the Apollo 11 spacecraft’s top speed.

If the Parker Solar Probe would be sent to Mars, it may reach it in 16 days. If we were to imagine a straight line between the probe and the Red Planet, and if the probe would be launched at the closest encounter between our two planets, it may reach it in 93 hours or so. However, this isn’t the case when it comes to space travel. Not to mention the issue mentioned earlier, the fact that planets aren’t static, and thus there is no constant distance. 

Astronomers have to predict where a planet will be once they launch a spacecraft. How long it takes to get to Mars depends mostly on where the Red Giant and our planet are situated, when the spacecraft is launched, and what propulsion systems are used. 

According to NASA , a mission to Mars would take around nine months if you begin your trip when the planets are properly lined up. The perfect window to get to Mars from Earth occurs once every 26 months. If we develop better ways to burn up fuel, we could reach Mars even faster, but our current technology is still very limiting.

Related Article: How Much of Space Have We Explored So Far?

Overview of Mars

Flight time of past missions to Mars

In the history of space exploration, there have been many missions to Mars, some successful and others not. As I mentioned in the intro, Mars has been the subject of interest for scientists for a long time. Especially when it comes to the prospect of finding signs of life on another planet.

Regardless of their different goals, the one thing that all of these missions have in common is that they all took a significant amount of time to reach the red planet. In this section, we’ll take a closer look at the flight times of some of the past missions to Mars and see how they compare to each other.

  • Mariner 4 (1964) had a flight time of 228 days.
  • Mariner 6 (1969) got to the red planet in 156 days.
  • Mariner 7 (1969) got to Mars in 128 days.
  • Mariner 9 (1971) reached the red planet in 167 days.
  • Viking 1 (1976) took on an 11-month cruise to Mars.
  • Viking 2 (1976) had a flight time of 360 days.
  • Mars Odyssey (2001) reached the dusty planet in about 200 days.
  • Mars Express (2003) completed its journey in around 6 months.
  • Opportunity Rover (2003) landed on Marse after 201 days spent in space.
  • Spirit (2003) touched down in Gusev crater after traveling for 179 days.
  • Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (2005) took 210 days to reach its destination.
  • Phoenix (2007) completed its travel to Mars in  295 days
  • Curiosity (2011) touched down on the martian surface after a trip lasting 253 days.
  • MAVEN (2013) entered the martian orbit after a 10-month trip.
  • Insight (2018) reached Mars in 206 days.
  • Perseverance, the latest rover to make it to Marse, did the trip Earth-Mars in 204 days.

Curiosity Rover

Future Missions to Mars

Technology always evolves, and astronomers are always looking for new ways to conduct space missions and shorten their flights. NASA already works on something new that may help Mars missions. 

The Space Launch System (SLS) is under construction and will conduct various tests that will help upcoming Missions to Mars, perhaps even manned missions. One of the first SLS rockets being designed for future Mars and Moon missions is the Artemis 1.

Artemis 1 just recently completed a near-flawless mission to the Moon and broke Apollo 13’s flight distance record. It is currently the most powerful rocket ever built. The future Artemis missions to the Moon will help establish new technologies and strategies to reach Mars. 

With our current technology, we need more field tests in order to be sure of what is to come. However, the successful mission of Artemis 1 proves once again that mankind’s determination is unyielding. Through Artemis 2 , we might have a new crew land on the Moon as soon as 2024 or 2025. Any successful mission on the Moon brings us closer to planetary missions, and the good news is that nowadays there are more space companies willing to do the job than ever before!

Reaching Mars at the Speed of Light

If you were to go to Mars using the speed of light , you would reach it in about three minutes at their closest possible approach. The speed of light is around 186,000 mi / 300,000 km per second. Reaching the speed of light is a goal for any interplanetary mission. However, it is unknown if humans can travel at such speed without consequences or if it is possible to reach this speed at all.

Between the first moon landing and the commercialization of spaceships are only 50 years of rapid development. The impending collaborations of multinational associations like NASA, Roscosmos, CSA, and private companies are set to be game changers for humanity. The upcoming decade promises entirely new opportunities, from Moon settlements and out-worldly discoveries to breathtaking experiences accessible for tourists and businessmen alike. 

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Written by Hrenciuc Daniel

Hello, my name is Daniel and I am a space enthusiast. I love everything related to space and SCFI, and although I like both Star Wars and Star Trek, I believe we will find something entirely different out there. I am an astronomy writer with a passion for both history and mythology. Each star has its tale. Let me tell you their story!

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Understanding Space Travel

Understanding space travel: the basics.

Space travel, particularly interplanetary travel, is a complex and time-consuming process. Unlike driving a car on a highway where the distance between two points is fixed, the distance between Earth and Mars is not constant; it changes as both planets orbit around the Sun. On average, Mars is about 140 million miles away from Earth. However, this distance can be as short as 34 million miles when the two planets align favourably, an event known as “opposition” that occurs about every two years.

Space Technology: The Tools of the Trade

To reach Mars, spacecraft employ advanced technology and harness the laws of physics for their journey. One such technique is the Hohmann Transfer Orbit, a path that when timed correctly, allows spacecraft to travel the least distance to Mars using the least amount of fuel possible. The spacecraft we send to Mars must be capable of immense speeds to successfully make the journey. Speeds usually range between 50,000 to 100,000 kilometers per hour. These speeds are achieved through propulsion systems like rocket thrusters, which provide the force necessary to push the craft through space.

Driving to Mars: The Estimations

How long it would take to get to Mars depends on a number of variables, such as the specific timing of the launch, the speed of the spacecraft, and the relative positioning of Earth and Mars within their orbits at the time of the journey. Using current technology, it takes roughly six to nine months to travel to Mars. NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory, which carried the Curiosity Rover, took about 8.5 months to make the journey. Other missions, like the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, took closer to nine months. SpaceX’s Starship, currently under development, aims to make the trip in as little as six months.

Why the Fluctuating Distance Matters

The variable distance between Earth and Mars matters significantly because it affects the amount of fuel and the time it takes to travel. Launching when Earth and Mars are at opposition, or their closest approach, allows a spacecraft to capitalize on the least amount of distance needed to travel. Usually, mission planners design spacecraft trajectories that launch a few months before an opposition event, ensuring the spacecraft arrives at Mars during opposition.

Future of Mars Exploration

Mars remains a key focus in space exploration, and as scientists and engineers innovate and technology advances, it’s likely that Mars mission durations could potentially decrease. NASA’s future Artemis and SpaceX’s Starship missions aim to not only travel to Mars more quickly but to also establish a human presence there. Mars’s close proximity and its similarities to Earth make it a prime target for further study and potential colonization.

Concludingly, the journey to Mars, using our current technological capabilities, is a rather extensive process, requiring approximately six to nine months of travel. This duration, however, is subject to many scientific and technological aspects that contribute to these calculations. As we continue to advance in these fields, we predict that the journey to Mars may become increasingly efficient.

An image depicting space travel basics, showing a rocket launching towards Mars with Earth and Mars in the background.

Current Methods of Space Travel

Methods utilized in modern martian travel.

How long the trip to Mars takes is primarily dependent on the means of space travel. NASA currently leads in this domain, boasting eight successful Mars landers to their name. Their standard journey to Mars is characterized by a six-month expedition by leveraging the close alignment of Earth and Mars that occurs once approximately every two years. Utilizing this alignment allows their crafts to journey along a path known as the Hohmann transfer orbit, thus saving valuable fuel.

SpaceX is another formidable presence in this Martian venture. Elon Musk, the visionary CEO, has unveiled ambitions about the Mars Colonial Transporter project, also referred to as the Starship. He is optimistic that future technological advancements could reduce the travel duration to Mars down to four months. Musk has even predicted a 30-day journey to Mars, but this forecast is riddled with considerable technical and financial challenges yet to be surmounted.

The Process of reaching Mars

The journey to Mars consists of three main stages. The initial phase involves the spacecraft’s launch into space, which typically uses a large amount of fuel to overcome Earth’s gravitational pull. This journey from Earth to Mars will then be followed by a cruise stage where the spacecraft coasts through space, making minor adjustments along the way to ensure that it stays on the correct trajectory.

The final phase of a Mars mission is entering the Martian atmosphere and landing on the planet’s surface. This is arguably the trickiest part of the mission because Mars’s thin atmosphere makes it challenging to slow down a fast-moving spacecraft. Many missions have failed during this phase, often due to complications related to avoiding overheating or achieving a safe landing speed.

Notably, the new Perseverance rover that landed in February 2021 used an innovative sky-crane method rather than traditional airbags for landing. It involved the rover being lowered to the surface on a tether from a hovering platform, a method that enabled it to land with precision in a small targeted area.

Understanding the Duration of a Journey to Mars: Present Technology

The current level of technology utilized by NASA allows for a six to nine-month journey to Mars. This duration is achieved by harnessing the shortest possible distance between Earth and Mars, which only becomes feasible for a limited duration once every 26 months. This, thereby, makes the timing of the journey highly critical to effectively benefit from this brief window of opportunity.

The narrow time frame is well-understood by mission planners who leverage it to strategically time their spacecraft’s launch. This maximizes fuel efficiency and minimizes travel time. A case in point is the Mars Insight mission by NASA, which launched in May 2018 and landed on the Martian surface precisely six months later, in late November.

Summing up, the existing methods and technology would see a round trip to Mars lasting about 18 months using a Hohmann transfer orbit. This includes a waiting period on Mars for the optimum alignment of Earth and Mars for the return journey. However, innovative ventures such as SpaceX are exploring ways to shorten this travel time even further. It’s also key to remember in space travel, timelines might seem extended, potentially spanning many years.

An image depicting a spacecraft traveling towards Mars in outer space

Future Methods and Innovations

Future techniques & innovations: a quicker journey to mars.

Given the growing interest in Mars as the next big frontier for human exploration, one vital question needs answering: How can future technologies make the journey to Mars faster and more efficient? With our current capabilities, we can reach Mars in approximately six to nine months. However, the future is poised with innovations that aim to enhance the efficiency and speed of these journeys which making them more viable for human travel.

One promising direction comes from NASA’s research into nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP)

NTP uses a nuclear reactor to heat a propellant, like hydrogen, to extreme temperatures before expelling the propellant out of a rocket nozzle to produce thrust. NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate is currently funding several NTP projects for propulsion system designs that could reduce the travel time to Mars by approximately half. This means astronauts could arrive on the Red Planet within three to four months.

Another anticipated method to speed up space travel is the concept of ion propulsion

This involves firing out streams of electrically charged atoms or molecules (ions) from a spacecraft to propel it forward. NASA’s Dawn spacecraft has already used this technology for propulsion in low-thrust, high-efficiency missions, but the technology still requires further development before it can facilitate a swift journey to Mars.

Elon Musk and SpaceX have proposed a revolutionary plan to reach Mars using a spacecraft called Starship

It’s designed to be reusable, capable of carrying up to 100 passengers and it would be refueled in orbit around Earth. SpaceX estimates that under optimal conditions, Starship could do the journey in just over a month.

Upcoming Mars Missions

NASA’s plans going forward involve constant Mars exploration with several missions in various stages of development. One notable mission is the Mars Sample Return Mission, which aims to collect samples of Martian rock, soil, and atmosphere for analysis back on Earth. This mission, which will involve cooperation between NASA and the European Space Agency, is slated for 2026. It’s hoped that these missions will provide valuable data that could inform and support future manned missions to Mars.

Feasibility and Timeframes: The Future is Closer Than We Think

Given the innovations and technological advancements currently being researched and developed, an era of faster travel to Mars seems on the horizon. However, the feasibility of these methods will depend on overcoming various challenges. These include creating sustainable life support systems for astronauts during long durations in space, protecting against the harmful effects of deep space radiation, and ensuring the safe re-entry and descent of spacecraft to the Martian surface.

Getting to Mars is not a simplistic task. It involves many factors such as enhancements in propulsion technology, improvements to spacecraft design, and strategic mission planning. The good news is that advancements have been promising. Upcoming missions are in the pipeline, experiments are continually being conducted, and technology is rapidly improving. This progress makes the idea of a manned Mars mission – potentially taking as little as one month – a tangible possibility.

An image depicting a futuristic spacecraft flying towards Mars.

Factors Influencing the Travel Time to Mars

Earth and mars orbital paths.

An essential factor in determining the travel time to Mars is the planets’ orbits around the Sun. Both Earth and Mars follow elliptical, or oval-shaped, paths rather than perfect circles. It takes Earth just over a year—365 days—to orbit once around the Sun, while Mars requires almost double that time—approximately 687 Earth days. Since both planets are on separate trajectories and move at different speeds, the distance between them varies incredibly. It fluctuates from a close point of around 34 million miles to a farthest point of up to 250 million miles.

Distance Variations

These distance variations are crucial. When Mars and Earth are closest together – at “opposition” every 26 months – that’s the ideal time to launch a spacecraft. To save time and fuel, space missions aim to coincide with this period. Otherwise, the journey could be considerably longer and require more resources. However, even at opposition, the journey is not immediate. Mariner 7, a NASA spacecraft, accomplished the shortest time from Earth to Mars so far, making its journey in 128 days back in 1969.

Spacecraft Speed

The speed of the spacecraft is another important factor. The faster the spacecraft can go, the less time the journey will take. However, there are practical limits to how fast a spacecraft can travel. The speed depends on the amount of fuel it carries and how much it can burn – known as “delta-v” – to change its speed and trajectory. Generally, unmanned spacecraft traveling to Mars reach speeds of about 100,000 kilometers per hour. At this speed, the shortest possible trip to Mars would take about 39 days.

Energy Requirements

The energy required to reach Mars is considerable. First, the spacecraft must escape Earth’s gravity. Then, it needs to adjust its trajectory to align with Mars’ orbit. Finally, it needs to slow down and safely land on Mars’ surface. Each of these stages requires significant amounts of energy. Most of this energy comes from the spacecraft’s propulsion system, but some can also come from the gravity of other planets or the Sun, used in “gravity assist” maneuvers.

Unpredictable Challenges

Unpredictable factors can also affect the journey to Mars. Space weather, like solar flares or cosmic radiation, can delay or reroute missions. Mechanical issues with the spacecraft could also become crucial mid-flight. Even dust storms on Mars, which can last for weeks or months, can affect the timeline of the mission.

Concluding Thoughts

The journey to Mars is not as straightforward as it seems due to a variety of factors that come into play. The time required to reach the Red Planet is influenced by aspects such as orbits, velocity, and the amount of fuel necessary for the journey. Yet, there may be unexpected hurdles or variations in these factors which can cause travel durations to vary significantly.

Illustration of Earth and Mars orbits around the Sun showing their elliptical paths with dashes representing distance variations.

Implications of the Journey Duration for Human Mars Missions

Grasping the distance: the length of the mars voyage.

The adventure to Mars, regardless of whether it’s manned or robotic, relies heavily on the probe’s speed and the erratic distance between Earth and Mars, which can fluctuate extensively due to both planets’ elliptical orbits around the Sun. At the point of their closest approach, also known as opposition, Earth and Mars are about 33.9 million miles (54.6 million kilometers) away from each other. But when they find themselves at opposite sides of the Sun, their distance can stretch to as far away as 250 million miles (401 million kilometers).

In practical terms, the optimum time to launch missions to Mars is when Earth and Mars coincide at the point of opposition when the spacecraft has reached Mars. This alignment is also referred to as the Hohmann Transfer Orbit. In these conditions, the spacecraft is required to traverse roughly 300 million miles (480 million kilometers), a journey which could take around nine months given our current propulsion capabilities.

Maintaining Life Support and Supplies for Long-duration Space Travel

Crafting a journey for humans that lasts up to nine months, or potentially longer if any unforeseen complications arise, requires complex planning—just maintaining the vital life-support systems is a major challenge. These systems would have to consistently provide air, water, food, and other basic human survival requirements, and would also need the ability to recycle as much as possible to reduce the mass of supplies launched from Earth.

Fuel is another important resource needed for the journey. The spaceship must store enough propellant for course corrections and to enter and exit Mars’s orbit—not to mention the fuel required for the return journey. Therefore, having fuel efficient systems or concepts like fuel depots in space are being studied.

The logistics of carrying or creating these resources and supplies for the duration of the mission has prompted NASA and other space agencies to research and invest in technologies for in-situ resource utilization. Essentially, this would involve using materials found on Mars to produce water, air, fuel, and possibly even food.

Mental and Physiological Implications of Long-duration Mars Missions

A mission to Mars is not only a physical challenge but also a mental one. Prolonged periods of isolation and confinement could severely affect the crew’s mental health, escalating the risk of issues such as depression and anxiety. Also, because of the time delay in communication with Earth, astronauts need to prepare to be considerably self-sufficient.

Physiologically, long-term space travel can impact the human body in numerous ways, like muscle and bone mass loss and changes to eyesight. As such, the potential impacts on health due to reduced gravity or “weightlessness” and how to counteract them from a dietary, exercise, and medical perspective form another major research area.

Space Agencies’ Preparations for Mars Missions

Considering the numerous challenges, space agencies are prepping to ensure the success of future human trips to Mars. They are launching precursor missions to test technologies, learn more about the Martian environment and its potential hazards, and advance their understanding of living and working on another planet. NASA, for instance, is embarking on long-duration missions to the International Space Station (ISS), simulating Martian environments on Earth, and launching mighty Mars rovers to gather more data on the Red Planet.

In conclusion, the journey to Mars is a crucial next step in human space exploration, necessitating long-term planning and an immense technological boost. It will undoubtedly pose formidable challenges—both scientific and logistical—but as scientists and engineers continue to innovate and explore, future astronauts will progressively come closer to setting foot on the Martian soil.

An image depicting a spaceship traveling towards Mars in space

Exploring the red planet and understanding its potential for sustaining human life is a monumental objective that requires careful planning, robust technologies, and a consideration for human biology and psychology. Advancements in space travel, while impressively innovative and efficient, still evokes discussion about the time it would actually take to get us to Mars. While this journey remains a formidable challenge, it symbolizes our unyielding human spirit of exploration and discovery. As we prepare to embark on this journey, driven by our inherent curiosity and thirst for discovery, the factors that determine the timeframe for such a voyage continue to inform the future of space travel, shedding light on our ability and potential to conquer new frontiers beyond our Earthly realm.

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Stars and Seas

How Long Does It Take To Get To Mars?

Mars has always fascinated us. The red planet is the closest planet to Earth, and it’s also the fourth largest planet in our solar system.

It is often cited as the planet where space travel is headed next, but how long would it take to reach Mars?

How Long Does It Take To Get To Mars

Well, it would take around 40 days for an unmanned vessel to travel from Earth to Mars at the current speed of our fastest spacecraft (58,000 Kilometers per hour).

This means that the journey would take approximately 3 months to complete a round trip.

However, this is based on a direct line from Earth to Mars, and does not take into consideration the many fluctuations and complications of true space travel.

How Far Away Is Mars From Earth?

The true distance between Earth and Mars is constantly changing because we are both orbital planets and are constantly on the move.

As both planets operate on elliptical orbits, the distance fluctuates even more than it would if both had circular orbits.

What’s more, Mars’ orbit is approximately 1.9 years. So for every one full rotation of the sun it makes, the earth makes almost two.

  • At its furthest distance, Mars is 250 million miles (401 million km) away from Earth.
  • The average distance between Earth and Mars is 140 million miles (225 million km).
  • The closest that the Earth gets to Mars is about 54.6 million kilometers. This is when their orbital paths come together and the earth sits directly between Mars and the sun. It happens every 26 months.

What Is The Hohmann Transfer Orbit?

The Hohmann Transfer Orbit is thought by NASA to be the most energy-efficient way to get spacecraft to Mars.

It involves launching the spacecraft into space at the optimum time so that the craft can escape the gravitational pull of the earth and instead intersect with the gravitational pull of Mars’ own orbit.

This method allows the object to use less fuel than if it used a conventional trajectory, as it can cruise along the existing orbital pathway.

The craft only needs fuel to increase speed and velocity to escape Earth’s orbit, and again to decelerate to connect with Mars’ orbit until it is ready to touch down on the surface.

Though this mission design is energy and fuel-efficient, it still has a considerable travel time because it is a very indirect route.

Unmanned missions with robotic spacecraft have had a 7 month journey time using this method.

NASA estimates that manned missions would take 9 months via this route.

How Long Does A Space Probe Take To Get To Mars?

How Long Does A Space Probe Take To Get To Mars

Human’s have sent numerous spacecraft to Mars since the 1960s in our search for knowledge and discovery.

However, the journey is a notoriously risky one, and only about half the missions have ever been successful.

In 1965, NASA completed the first successful flyby mission to Mars. It took the Mariner 4 eight months to reach the red planet.

It launched on the 28th November, 1964, and reached Mars on the 14th July 1965.

In 1971, NASA’s Mariner 9 was the first spacecraft to successfully land on Mars.

It launched on May 30th and landed on the planet on the 19th September.

It also became the first spacecraft to photograph the Martian landscape.

The Martian surface was discovered to be dusty and dry, and dormant volcanoes were also discovered.

How Many Successful Missions To Mars Have There Been?

NASA has sent over 40 different unmanned space probes to Mars since the beginning of the space age.

Of these, only 10 have ever returned images or data back to Earth.

Their main aims have been to investigate the Martian atmosphere, look for the possibility of life, signs of ancient life, search for surface water, and discern if Mars may one day be a habitable planet for humankind.

These missions have discovered that Mars is a very dry planet with an arid landscape.

However, there are some clues to habitable conditions like frozen carbon dioxide deposits which could possibly support microbial life.

How Long Would A Human Mission To Mars Take?

In theory, NASA predicts that a one-way trip to Mars with a manned spacecraft would take around 9 months, using current methods of chemical propulsion used in chemical rockets.

The human crew would have to wait around 3 months on the planet’s surface until the orbital trajectory was right for them to begin a return journey.

Even with our fastest spacecraft, the total journey time would take around 21 months.

Why Haven’t We Sent Humans To Mars Yet?

Why Haven't We Sent Humans To Mars Yet

We have never managed to send a human mission to Mars, and this is because sending humans into space would involve sending many more resources and fuel supplies – all of which weigh down a spacecraft and slow down the journey time.

The human body needs water to survive – therefore, a manned spacecraft would have to hold tons of water to keep the human crew hydrated.

This takes up space and increases weight.

Other supplies like food, living space, equipment, and medical supplies would all mean that any manned mission to Mars would take place in a very cramped spacecraft!

The mission would also need to have enough fuel for a return mission if the human astronauts ever hoped to see their families again.

The increased fuel adds weight to the craft, which in turn means that more fuel is needed to propel it into space!

What Will Future Missions To Mars Be Like?

Future missions will most likely use new technologies and techniques to help reduce the amount of fuel needed to travel to Mars.

These include:

  • Using ion engines instead of traditional chemical rocket engines. Ion engines produce thrust by accelerating charged particles (electrons) through magnetic fields. They do not require rocket propellant, so they can be much smaller than traditional chemical rockets.
  • Using solar sails instead of traditional chemical rockets. Solar sails harness the power of sunlight to push a spacecraft forward. They don’t require fuel, but they can’t move as fast as conventional rockets.
  • Using nuclear reactors instead of traditional chemical rockets to provide energy. Nuclear reactors use atomic fission to create heat and electricity. They are safer than traditional chemical rockets, but they still require large amounts of fuel.
  • Using lasers instead of traditional chemical rockets for propulsion. Lasers work by focusing intense beams of light onto small targets called ‘beamsplitters’. When the beam hits the target, it causes it to explode into tiny fragments. The resulting explosion pushes the spacecraft forwards.

When Will We Finally Send Humans To Mars?

NASA aims to send the first manned mission to Mars in the 2030s. It will land on the Red Planet, collect samples, and then return to Earth.

These future missions may be able to cut the amount of fuel needed by over 90% compared to previous missions.

They are also designed to speed up the time it will take to get to Mars. Even so, the total journey time is still predicted to take many months.

Plus, these new technologies won’t come cheap.

A manned mission to Mars will cost tens or hundreds of billions of dollars, depending on how far away from Earth you want to go.

We still have lots to unravel before we can holiday in Mars for spring break.

Final Thoughts

And there you have it! Although Mars isn’t a completely unreachable destination, we can’t exactly just pop on over quickly then pop back.

It’s going to take a lot more research and dedicated individuals to finally make the first human mission to Mars possible, but it’s estimated that such a mission would take at least 9 months, and that’s just one way!

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Problem Set

Let's go to mars calculating launch windows.

This activity is related to a Teachable Moment from Oct. 31, 2016. See " When Computers Were Human. "

› Explore more on the Teachable Moments Blog

This activity is designed for students familiar with advanced algebra concepts. In this lesson, students will:

  • Use algebraic computations to determine the relative positions of Earth and Mars during which an optimal (low-energy) transfer of a spacecraft can occur.
  • Combine this information with planetary-position data to determine the next launch opportunity to Mars.

Graph paper, quadrille ruled (one piece per student)

8.5-by-11-inch or larger piece of thick cardboard (per student)

Two push-pins (per student)

String, approximately 30 cm (per student)

Planetary heliocentric longitudes for appropriate years (search for “planetary heliocentric longitudes” along with the applicable years)

When a spacecraft is launched from Earth, its forward velocity combined with the gravitational pull of Earth cause it to travel in a curved path. As the spacecraft heads toward another planet, the gravitational pull of that planet factors in to the path the spacecraft takes. The more a spacecraft can “coast” with engines off, the lower the cost of the mission (rocket fuel is not cheap!).

Think of a quarterback throwing a football to a receiver. The initial impulse (throw) is all the football gets as far as power is concerned. The football follows a curved path into the hands of the receiver. Likewise, the quarterback throws the football to where the receiver is going to be, not necessarily to where the receiver is currently. So, the quarterback throws the football downfield as the receiver is running in that direction. In a perfectly thrown pass, the receiver’s running speed will bring him or her to the exact spot where the football arrives at hand-level.

Launching to Mars is similar to this. A spacecraft is given an initial impulse (launch) toward Mars and then shuts off its engines and coasts (obeying Newton’s First Law) until it gets close to its target. Depending on the mission, the spacecraft may slow down – to get into orbit or land – by using the Martian atmosphere or retro-rockets that fire opposite to the direction of travel (obeying Newton’s Third Law).

Though a spacecraft could follow a variety of curved paths from Earth to Mars, one path called the Hohmann transfer orbit uses the least energy and is thereby considered to be the most efficient.

The Hohmann transfer is an elliptical orbit with the sun at one focus of the ellipse that intersects the orbit of the target planet. Launch occurs when Earth is at Hohmann perihelion (the point of the Hohmann orbit that is closest to the sun). Arrival occurs when Mars is at Hohmann aphelion (the point of the Hohmann orbit that is farthest from the sun).

Depending on mission objectives and spacecraft characteristics, engineers will use variations on the Hohmann transfer orbit to get spacecraft to Mars. These variations can make travel time more or less lengthy than a standard Hohmann transfer.

To make sure the spacecraft and Mars arrive at the same place at the same time, the spacecraft must launch within a particular window of time. This window is called the “launch window” and, depending on the target, can be a few minutes or as much as a few weeks in length.

If a spacecraft is launched too early or too late, it will arrive in the planet’s orbit when the planet is not there.

When launched within the proper launch window, the spacecraft will arrive in the planet’s orbit just as the planet arrives at that same place. At this point, the spacecraft is positioned for either going into orbit about the planet or landing on the planet.

Calculating orbit trajectories and launch windows is a complex task involving a variety of parameters that may or may not be constantly changing. In order to make this task accessible to high-school students, some variable parameters have been stabilized and some assumptions have been made. This problem, with these simplifications, allows students to generate an approximation of the launch window to Mars.

  • Explain to students that launching to Mars requires a spacecraft to travel in an elliptical orbit about the sun such that the spacecraft and Mars will arrive in the same place at the same time. Their task in this exercise is to determine when we should next launch to Mars.
  • The orbits of Earth and Mars are circular and centered on the sun. (Earth’s orbit is more circular than Mars’ orbit, but they are both slightly elliptical.)
  • Earth and Mars travel at constant speeds. (They do not. See Kepler’s Second Law).
  • The orbits of Earth and Mars are in the same plane. (They are close but slightly out of plane with one another).

Use string and a pushpin to draw a circular orbit.

Use string and two pushpins to draw the elliptical Hohmann transfer orbit.

  • Have students use Kepler’s Third Law, the Law of Harmony, to determine the period of the Hohmann transfer orbit and then the travel time to Mars along this orbit. Kepler’s Third Law states that the square of the period of any planet is proportional to the cube of the semi-major axis of its orbit. An equation can represent this relationship: P 2 =ka 3 with k being the constant of proportionality Using Earth as an example, we can measure P in years and a in astronomical units so P = 1 year and a = 1 AU. Thus, P 2 =ka 3 →k=1 => P 2 =a 3 P 2 = (1.26 AU) 3 => P ~ 1.41 years ~ 517 days The full period of this Hohmann transfer orbit is 517 days. Travel to Mars encompasses half of one orbit, so approximately 259 days.
  • Using the planetary heliocentric longitudes, approximately when is the next opportunity for a launch to Mars?
  • Must a spacecraft be launched at an exact moment in the launch window? What happens if it is launched early or late?
  • Research: What is the average length of a launch window to Mars?
  • Approximately when was the most recent opportunity for a launch to Mars? What countries took advantage of that opportunity and launched to Mars at that time? What is the current status of those missions? Were they successful?
  • Have students create a spreadsheet that will subtract heliocentric longitudes for Earth and Mars to simplify launch window calculations.
  • Relative to Mars, where is Earth in its orbit when the spacecraft arrives?

Explore More

  • Meet JPL engineer Sue Finley – Finley started at JPL in 1958 as a human computer and still works at the laboratory.
  • Women at JPL website  
  • JPL History
  • JPL 80th Anniversary Article
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  • JPL 80th Anniversary Video Playlist
  • JPL 80th Anniversary Printable Calendar
  • Mars in a Minute Video Series
  • Stomp Rockets Activity
  • Basics of Space Flight Tutorial

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How long does it take to get to mars trips to the red planet, explained.

There's a lot of talk about sending people to Mars. But how long does it take to make a trip to the Red Planet from Earth? Here's what we know.

Mars  stands out as one of the most fascinating planets in the entire Solar System — and a planet many people dream of visiting one day. Unfortunately, actually making a trip to get to the Red Planet can take  quite  a bit of time. Mars has long been a point of interest for astronomers all over the world. Thanks to its solid surface, rich history, and the belief that life once existed there, humans are constantly trying to learn more about our Martian neighbor.

This desire to explore Mars has only increased in recent years. NASA landed its Perseverance rover on Mars in February 2021, tasking it with collecting rock samples that'll eventually be returned to Earth. NASA also used its InSight probe in July 2021 to create an interior map of Mars — the first of its kind for a planet beyond Earth. Combine these robotic adventures with the building desire to send the first humans to Mars, and it's safe to say Martian interest has never been greater.

Related:  Is There Carbon On Mars? What The Element Could Tell Us About Mars' Past

All of this discussion of Mars raises an important question, however: How long does it take to get to the planet? It's not something that's given much thought when NASA sends a rover or orbiter to Mars, but if the organization's eventually going to send people there, how long of a trip can they expect? The average distance between Mars and Earth is around 140 million miles. Let's say someone was traveling at 60 mph — a typical driving speed for a car here on Earth. At that rate, it could take a little under 2,330,333 hours to get to Mars (or around 266 years). Thankfully, ships designed for space travel can go  much  faster . NASA's New Horizons spacecraft — one of the fastest ever created — could reach Mars in around 162 days traveling at 36,000 mph.

The Distance Between Earth And Mars Is Constantly Changing

Earth And Mars

Those are all just average numbers, though. Because Earth, Mars, and other planets orbit the Sun at different speeds, that means the distance between them is constantly changing. That 140 million mile distance between Earth and Mars is just an average. The closest Mars ever got to Earth was in 2003 when it was just 34.8 million miles from the planet. If NASA could have used its New Horizons ship to fly to Mars then, it would have reached the Red Planet in about 40 days! When the two planets are at their furthest point from each other, they can be separated by up to 250 million miles . Even with the incredible speed of New Horizons, it'd take the ship 289 days to reach Mars at this distance.

This variable distance between Earth and Mars is immediately apparent when looking at past missions to the Red Planet. Most recently, it took NASA's Perseverance rover 203 days of traveling from its launch on Earth to landing on Mars' surface. 2005's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter made it to Mars in 205 days, the Pathfinder spacecraft got on Mars after 212 days, and Curiosity arrived on Mars following 254 days of travel. NASA tries to plan its launches around optimal positions between Earth and Mars, but of course, there's always some variance in how long it takes to get there.

There's no doubt that a trip to Mars takes a  long  time right now . Thankfully, this is something scientists and engineers are constantly trying to improve. SpaceX, for example, estimates it could send people to Mars in as little as 80 days! It'll be a while before that's standard practice, but it goes to show that 200+ days of travel won't always be the norm.

Next:  Why Is Mars Red?

Source:  NASA

How Long Does it Take to get to Mars?

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The time it takes to get to Mars from Earth depends on a variety of factors including the planets’ positions in their orbits, the specific details of the mission’s trajectory, and the type of propulsion used.  The distance between Earth and Mars changes throughout the year as both planets have elliptical orbits and different orbital periods, with the closest approach, or opposition, occurring approximately every 26 months.  At opposition, Mars and the Sun are on directly opposite sides of Earth.

Hohmann Transfer Orbit

Traditionally, missions to Mars have used a Hohmann Transfer Orbit, which is the most energy-efficient way to travel between two orbiting bodies, but it is not the fastest.  Using this method, it typically takes approximately 9 months to travel to Mars. This is the method that has been used by most Mars rovers and orbiters.

Faster Transits

Advanced propulsion technologies and mission designs are in development that could potentially shorten travel time to Mars.  For example, using high-powered ion propulsion systems, nuclear thermal propulsion, or solar sails, could reduce travel time to a matter of months or even weeks.  However, these technologies are still largely in the experimental or developmental stage.

Recent Missions

  • NASA’s Mars rovers, such as Curiosity, took about 9 months to travel from Earth to Mars.
  • The UAE’s Hope Probe, launched in July 2020, reached Mars in February 2021, also taking around 7 months.

Human Missions

When considering manned missions, the challenges and travel times can be different, given the requirements for life support and the need to bring humans back to Earth. Various proposals and mission designs for human missions to Mars estimate travel times ranging from 6 to 9 months using current or near-future technologies.

Speed and Distance

The speed of the spacecraft also greatly affects the travel time, and the required speed depends on the chosen trajectory. he shortest distance between Earth and Mars (during opposition) is about 54.6 million kilometers, but spacecraft typically travel a much longer distance due to the need to follow a trajectory that requires the least amount of energy, typically an elliptical orbit.

Future Innovations

Space agencies and private companies are actively researching and developing new technologies and mission architectures to decrease travel time to Mars, reduce mission costs, and ensure the safety of astronauts during potential future manned missions to the Red Planet.

In conclusion, while the time to get to Mars has typically been around 9 months using conventional propulsion technologies and optimal transfer orbits, future innovations in space travel technology have the potential to significantly decrease the travel time for future robotic and human missions to Mars.

Check out our 3D Mars Learning Center for more information on Mars.   You can also learn more at:  NASA Mars Exploration.

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How Long Does It Take to Travel to Mars? A Comprehensive Guide

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By Happy Sharer

estimated travel time to mars

Introduction

Exploring the unknown has always been part of human nature. For centuries, we have looked up at the night sky with a sense of wonder and curiosity about what lies beyond our planet. With advances in technology, humans are now able to venture further into the cosmos than ever before. One of the most exciting destinations on the horizon is Mars – the fourth planet from the Sun and the second closest to Earth. But how long does it take to travel to Mars?

This article provides a comprehensive guide to the journey to Mars and explores the length of time required to reach the Red Planet. We will look at what’s involved in a trip to Mars, the challenges of space travel, factors affecting travel time to Mars and how this affects mission planning. Finally, we will hear from an astronaut who has made the journey to Mars and get their insights into how long it takes to travel to the Red Planet.

A Comprehensive Guide to the Journey to Mars

The journey to Mars requires a great deal of planning and preparation. Before any mission can take off, there are several key considerations that need to be taken into account. First, it is important to understand what is involved in a trip to Mars and the challenges that come with space travel. Let’s explore these in more detail.

What Is Involved in a Trip to Mars?

Making the journey to Mars involves a complex set of tasks and procedures. According to NASA, the process includes the following steps: mission design; launch and ascent; cruise, including trajectory correction maneuvers; entry, descent, and landing; and surface operations. Each of these steps must be carefully planned and executed in order for the mission to be successful.

What Are the Challenges of Space Travel?

Space travel is not without its risks and challenges. According to a study conducted by the European Space Agency (ESA), the main risks associated with space travel include radiation exposure, psychological stress, and physical strain. Additionally, the extreme temperatures and harsh environment of space can cause significant damage to spacecraft and equipment. These risks must be addressed prior to any mission taking place.

How Many Months Does It Take to Reach Mars?

Once all the necessary preparations have been made, the next step is to calculate the travel time to Mars. This can be done by considering a number of different factors, including the speed of the spacecraft, the distance between Earth and Mars, and the gravity of both planets. Let’s explore these in more detail.

Factors Affecting Travel Time to Mars

The speed of the spacecraft is one of the most important factors in determining how long it takes to travel to Mars. According to a study conducted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the average speed of a spacecraft travelling to Mars is approximately 11.86 kilometers per second. This means that it takes approximately nine months for a spacecraft to reach the Red Planet.

The distance between Earth and Mars is another factor that must be taken into account when calculating travel time. According to NASA, the average distance between Earth and Mars is 225 million kilometers. This means that, depending on the speed of the spacecraft, it can take anywhere from seven to nine months for a spacecraft to reach the Red Planet.

Finally, the gravity of both planets plays an important role in determining travel time. The gravitational pull of Earth and Mars affects the speed of the spacecraft, which in turn affects the length of the journey. According to a study conducted by the University of California, Berkeley, the gravitational force of Mars is roughly 38 percent of that of Earth. This means that it takes less time for a spacecraft to reach Mars than it does for a spacecraft to reach Earth.

Calculating Travel Time to Mars

Now that we have explored the factors affecting travel time to Mars, let’s look at how to calculate the length of the journey. To do this, we need to combine the speed of the spacecraft with the distance between Earth and Mars, and then factor in the gravity of both planets. Once this is done, we can calculate the approximate travel time to Mars.

The Length of Time Required to Reach the Red Planet

The Length of Time Required to Reach the Red Planet

Now that we have calculated the approximate travel time to Mars, let’s break down the length of time required for different missions. According to a study conducted by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the average estimated travel time for a round-trip mission to Mars is roughly 18 months. This is broken down into nine months for the outward journey and nine months for the return journey.

However, the length of time required for a mission to Mars can vary depending on a number of factors. For example, if a spacecraft is travelling faster than the average speed of 11.86 kilometers per second, the travel time could be shortened. Similarly, if a spacecraft is travelling slower than the average speed, the travel time could be lengthened.

Charting a Course to Mars: Travel Time Overview

Charting a Course to Mars: Travel Time Overview

When planning a mission to Mars, it is important to consider the length of time required to reach the Red Planet. Advanced technology can help to speed up travel time, making it possible to reach Mars within a shorter period of time. Some of the key considerations when planning a mission include the speed of the spacecraft, the distance between Earth and Mars, and the gravity of both planets.

In addition, the use of advanced technology can reduce the risk of radiation exposure, psychological stress, and physical strain associated with space travel. By leveraging the latest advances in technology, it is possible to reduce the length of time required for a mission to Mars and ensure a safe and successful journey.

An Astronaut’s Account of a Trip to Mars: How Long Does It Take?

To gain a better understanding of the journey to Mars, it is helpful to hear from an astronaut who has experienced the journey firsthand. In a recent interview, astronaut Scott Kelly shared his personal experiences from a trip to the Red Planet.

According to Kelly, the journey to Mars took approximately nine months. He explained that the most difficult part of the journey was the psychological challenge of being away from family and friends for such a long period of time. Kelly also noted that the experience was made easier by having access to advanced technology, which allowed him to stay connected with loved ones while in space.

Kelly offered some advice for future Mars travelers, suggesting that they “prepare mentally and physically for the journey ahead and keep an open mind to the possibilities that await them.” He also encouraged them to “enjoy the journey and make the most of the experience.”

Making the journey to Mars is no small feat. From mission design to launch and ascent to entry, descent, and landing, there is a great deal of planning and preparation required for a successful mission. The length of time required to reach the Red Planet depends on a number of factors, including the speed of the spacecraft, the distance between Earth and Mars, and the gravity of both planets.

Advanced technology can help to speed up travel time, making it possible to reach Mars within a shorter period of time. An astronaut’s account of a trip to Mars provides valuable insight into the journey and offers advice for future Mars travelers. Through careful planning and the use of advanced technology, it is possible to make the journey to Mars a successful and rewarding experience.

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Hi, I'm Happy Sharer and I love sharing interesting and useful knowledge with others. I have a passion for learning and enjoy explaining complex concepts in a simple way.

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The Great Read

Can Humans Endure the Psychological Torment of Mars?

NASA is conducting tests on what might be the greatest challenge of a Mars mission: the trauma of isolation.

Credit... Isabel Seliger

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By Nathaniel Rich

  • Feb. 25, 2024

Alyssa Shannon was on her morning commute from Oakland to Sacramento, where she worked as an advanced-practice nurse at the university hospital, when NASA called to tell her that she had been selected for a Mars mission. She screamed and pulled off the highway. As soon as she hung up, she called her partner, an information-security operations manager at the University of California, Berkeley, named Jake Harwood.

Listen to this article, read by Eric Jason Martin

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“Wow,” Harwood said.

“Yeah,” Shannon said. “Wow.”

They sat in silence with the information, struggling to fathom the shape and weight of it, for a very long time.

Later that morning, Nathan Jones, an emergency-room physician in Springfield, Ill., received the call that he had so fervently awaited and so deeply dreaded. His thoughts turned immediately to his wife, Kacie, and their three sons, who were 8, 10 and 12. You get only 18 years with your kids, he told himself. If you accept this opportunity, you’ll have to give up one of them.

And yet ... he couldn’t possibly turn down NASA. Mars, he had convinced himself, was his destiny. As a child, he dreamed of walking across an alien planet in a state of wonder; he hoped to attend space camp, but his family couldn’t afford it. Once his sons were old enough, he took them to Cape Canaveral for a rocket launch.

When he told Kacie the news, she nearly burst into tears.

This Mars mission, CHAPEA, would not actually go to Mars. But the success of CHAPEA (“Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog”) will hang on the precision with which it simulates the first human expedition to Mars — an eventuality that NASA expects to occur by 2040.

That people will travel to Mars, and soon, is a widely accepted conviction within NASA. The target date for the initial human mission has drifted slightly — in a 2018 report commissioned by Congress, NASA estimated that the first human beings would land on Mars “no later than the late 2020s” — but the certainty has not wavered, even if technical hurdles remain. Rachel McCauley, until recently the acting deputy director of NASA’s Mars campaign, had, as of July, a punch list of 800 problems that must be solved before the first human mission launches. Many of these concern the mechanical difficulties of transporting people to a planet that is never closer than 33.9 million miles away; keeping them alive on poisonous soil in unbreathable air, bombarded by solar radiation and galactic cosmic rays, without access to immediate communication; and returning them safely to Earth, more than a year and half later. Many other problems involve technical details so arcane that McCauley wouldn’t even know how to begin explaining them to a well-intentioned journalist lacking an advanced engineering degree. But McCauley does not doubt that NASA will overcome these challenges. What NASA does not yet know — what nobody can know — is whether humanity can overcome the psychological torment of Martian life.

Enter CHAPEA. Instead of asking questions about aeroshell sensor design and terrain-relative navigation, it promised to ask questions about people. For 378 days, four ordinary people would enact, as closely as possible, the lives of Martian colonists, receiving directives, feedback and near-total surveillance from mission control. They would eat astronaut food, conduct basic experiments, perform maintenance duties, respond to endless surveys and enjoy highly structured down time. This level of extreme verisimilitude is necessary to ensure that the experiment accurately determines whether human beings can thrive while living millions of miles from everybody they’ve ever known.

Experimenters wanted to learn whether crew members could eat low-salt, prepackaged astronaut meals for hundreds of days without losing their appetite, weight and positive attitude. Whether they could live in harmony with strangers in a confined space. Whether they could preserve a cohesive professional environment when they are out of contact with Earth for as long as three weeks at a time. Such questions are of paramount importance, because no mission to Mars can succeed if its inhabitants cannot maintain their health, their happiness and, most critical of all, their sanity.

And so before NASA can safely judge whether astronauts will thrive on Mars, NASA must first determine whether astronaut-imitators can thrive on a stage set designed, with maximum fidelity, to look like Mars.

“Mars is calling!” began the announcement that NASA published on its website in August 2021. Unlike most NASA missions, CHAPEA was open to the general public, or at least a reasonably broad swath of it: citizens or permanent residents between the ages of 30 and 55 with a master’s degree in a STEM field. Applicants were told to expect the experience to be “mentally demanding.”

Among the not-insignificant percentage of the country that idolizes NASA, this news was tantamount to learning that Willy Wonka would open his mysterious factory to five lucky contest winners. NASA offered four golden tickets to Mars — or rather Mars Dune Alpha, a 1,700-square-foot habitat built inside a warehouse at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

The habitat was constructed as future Mars dwellings will be constructed: by 3-D printer. For “ink,” Martian colonies will use Martian regolith. Because NASA does not possess sufficient quantities of Martian rock, CHAPEA used a proprietary, airtight cement-based material called Lavacrete, which extrudes from a 3-D printer layer by layer, like orange toothpaste. (Though Lavacrete can be printed in any color, NASA engineers chose to dye the habitat that peculiar hue of orange misleadingly called “Martian red.”)

At one end of the rectangular habitat, four identical 6-by-11-foot cells serve as bedrooms. In the middle lies the “lounge,” a small room with a television and four reclining chairs. The other end is occupied by several desks with computer monitors, a medical station and a crop garden. The vegetables are not intended for subsistence but for mental health: Growing plants, one CHAPEA researcher said, may “provide psychological benefits for astronauts living in isolated, confined environments away from Earth.” Rooms have different ceiling heights, in order, according to its builder, to “avoid spatial monotony and crew member fatigue.” A hatch opens to a Martian backyard: a tented sandbox of reddish sand and two treadmills, to be used for “spacewalks” by virtual-reality-goggled crew members. The walls of the backyard are painted with a mural of Martian cliffs. There are no windows.

The duration of the experiment is the most glaring violation of verisimilitude. Orbital geometries dictate that the shortest possible round-trip mission to Mars will last about 570 days, a scenario possible once every 15 years, next in 2033; a typical Martian tour of duty will last at least 800 days.

To preserve the integrity of the experiment, NASA has refused to disclose any additional details about what the crew will experience during their 378-day confinement, which will end on July 6, 2024. NASA has emphasized only that participants will experience “resource limitations, equipment failure, communication delays and other environmental stressors.” But if Alyssa Shannon and Nathan Jones were to take NASA at its word about its dedication to realism, they could assume that certain conditions would have to be present. Crew members on a mission to Mars will, for instance, have to form durable emotional bonds with total strangers, relying on them for the comforts and consolations of the relationships they abandoned on Earth. Crew members will have to respond to every emergency themselves, without the possibility of intervention, or even guidance, from a mission command too distant to reply promptly to an S.O.S. They would have to come to terms with their inability to care for a sick child, comfort an upset spouse or visit a dying parent.

Future Mars voyagers will not only have to tolerate these conditions. In order to win the privilege of long-distance space travel, they will have to pursue the opportunity with devout, single-minded purpose. They will have to want to travel to Mars more than almost anyone else in the world. They will have to embrace the knowledge that, for at least 570 days, they will be the most isolated human beings in the history of the universe.

An illustration of astronauts in the reflection of one astronaut’s visor.

Alyssa Shannon had fantasized about colonizing Mars since childhood. She spent weeks on the floor of her bedroom playing with a Lego spaceship that converted into a Martian base station. Later she read Ray Bradbury’s “Martian Chronicles,” James S.A. Corey’s Expanse series and Kim Stanley Robinson’s Mars trilogy — any Martian sci-fi she could find. She knew she could tolerate hardship and extended periods in isolation: She was an avid backpacker, having hiked the John Muir Trail in 23 days and trekked across Spain in 40. She would miss cooking — her specialty was whole-wheat sourdough pizza — but she was willing to sacrifice her culinary passion in service of humanity’s future. Her partner, Jake, understood. Her decision to apply, he said, “reaffirmed what I knew about her: When it comes time to do something important, requiring a major commitment, she’s the kind of person who will follow through.” While she waited to hear back from NASA, Alyssa didn’t discuss it much: The prospect was almost too exciting to bear.

Nathan Jones, the father of three, told his identical twin, Matthew, that he felt the mission had been designed for him — and that he had been made for the mission. Matthew agreed. Nathan could talk to anyone and seemed to solve any problem he faced. He had spent years as a night-shift paramedic, saving lives in the backs of speeding ambulances. He had volunteered on medical missions in the jungles of Honduras, treating health emergencies for members of remote Indigenous tribes without being able to speak their language (or, for that matter, much Spanish). Jones was the emergency specialist in his household too, responsible for repairing every leak, dysfunctional appliance and clogged toilet. He figured he could handle Mars — or, at least, “Mars.”

Kacie, his wife, wasn’t certain she could handle it. When Nathan announced that he had applied, she was dumbfounded. Why, she asked, would you choose to leave our family for a year?

Another version of this question was posed by various professional observers of the American space program: the historians, ethicists and NASA consultants who spend much of their professional lives imagining the future of space exploration and planetary colonization. What, they wondered, did NASA hope to learn from CHAPEA that it did not know already?

The psychic perils of separation from one’s social world are well understood. “Don’t we already know what isolation does to people?” asks J.S. Johnson-Schwartz, a professor of philosophy at Wichita State University who studies the ethics of space exploration. “What uncertainty exists about what’s going to happen when you lock people inside a room for a year? Just because the room is painted to look like Mars doesn’t mean it’s going to change the results.”

The findings to which Johnson-Schwartz referred were from the last 80 years of isolation research, a field of study initiated during World War II, when the British Royal Air Force grew concerned about pilots’ performance during solo reconnaissance flights. Officers noticed that the longer a pilot stayed in the air, the fewer German submarines he detected. The psychologist Norman Mackworth determined that the monotony of the mission was responsible. But inattention wasn’t the worst of it: Monotony weakened the pilots’ competence in even the most basic tasks.

Mackworth’s conclusions inspired a series of studies by the psychologist Donald O. Hebb at McGill University in Montreal, in which male students earned $20 a day to lie on a bed in a lighted, soundproofed gray cubicle. Hebb confirmed Mackworth’s findings and added a disturbing new wrinkle. Monotony didn’t only cause intellectual impairment. It led to “change of attitude.”

At first Hebb’s students slept a lot and ruminated on their studies and their personal problems. Later they fell into reminiscences, recreating movies they had watched or trips they had taken. Some counted to incredibly large numbers. Eventually, however, they lost the ability to focus. Several students reported “blank periods” during which they did not have a single thought.

Next came the hallucinations: a procession of marching squirrels hauling sacks over their shoulders. Nude women frolicking in a woodland pool. Giant eyeglasses marching down a street. An old man wearing a battle helmet in a bathtub rolling across a field on rubber wheels. Dogs, endless dogs. One student complained of a phantom “sucking my mind out through my eyes.” The delusions made the students vulnerable to manipulation. When played recordings about ghosts, poltergeists and ESP, they were far more likely to believe such phenomena were real, even long after the experiment ended.

Hebb’s findings inspired a boom of isolation studies. Subjects were confined within iron lungs, water tanks and subterranean caves; the results were consistent. “These experiments were extremely useful to many different people,” says Jeffrey Mathias, a historian of science at Cornell University, who is writing a book about the history of isolation research. Besides attracting neuroscientists and psychologists, the research also drew the interest, and funding, of the U.S. intelligence community. The C.I.A. incorporated findings into their practice of “coercive counterintelligence interrogation,” or what today might be called “brainwashing” or “torture.”

The isolation studies were also closely monitored by the Air Force, which directed the nascent U.S. space program before the creation of NASA in 1958. Worried that spaceflight might drive astronauts insane, the Air Force conducted the first iteration of a CHAPEA-like experiment at the Air Force’s School of Aeronautic Medicine in San Antonio in 1955. Prospective astronauts were enclosed for a week within a spaceship cockpit slightly larger than a coffin perpetually illuminated by bright fluorescent lights. The airmen were assigned an overwhelming number of technical tasks and, in some cases, given huge doses of amphetamines.

Their experience followed a familiar trajectory: Initial high spirits gave way to what one researcher called a “gradual increase in irritability,” which abruptly flipped into “frank hostility.” Many participants, including a few who hadn’t taken speed, hallucinated. One pilot saw “little people” perched on the instrument panel. “I can’t say if I thought they were alive or not,” he said. “I really don’t know.” Another pilot abandoned the experiment after three hours and demanded psychiatric care.

Similar studies followed — in blackened anechoic chambers and pill-shaped capsules dangling from high-altitude balloons — before the entire line of inquiry was put to rest by Project Mercury. During the successful solo missions that marked the formal start of the American space program in the early 1960s, astronauts did not suffer from any obvious psychological distress, placating Hebb’s researchers. All future long-duration expeditions remained in Earth’s orbit, allowing crew to communicate easily with family and friends; the International Space Station flies about as far from Earth as Manhattan is from Washington. Although government agencies, particularly those concerned about crew performance aboard nuclear submarines, continue to examine the effects of isolation, NASA did not.

NASA had not solved the problem of isolation in outer space. It realized it did not need to solve it. At least not until half a century later, when a new challenge presented itself: a human mission to a planet so distant that a cry for help would have to travel through the solar system for 22 minutes before it was heard.

It was the lag in communication that particularly worried the partners and families of the CHAPEA crew. All contact with the habitat would be delayed by the amount of time that it would take to beam information hundreds of millions of miles from Earth to Mars. Even the tersest exchange (“How’s it going?” “OK.”) would take 44 minutes.

But 44 minutes was the best-case scenario, because any communication will have to flow through a single node. Every unit of information — not just messages but surveillance footage, audio recordings, experimental and biostatic records — will have to wait its turn in a digital queue, with precedence given to the most urgent signals and the smallest packets of data. The upshot was that anything approaching a normal human conversation with an Earthling was unthinkable. The most modest digital postcard — a short, grainy video of a child blowing out a birthday candle — might take weeks to arrive. And during one three-week period in the middle of the experiment, representing the farthest distance (more than 250 million miles) between the two planets, there would be no contact at all.

Alyssa Shannon’s partner, Jake, the cybersecurity expert, dedicated himself to gaming the digital traffic snarl. “I have to figure out how to make sure my stuff goes faster than everyone else,” he said. “I know enough about tech to get the lowest bit rate possible. The lowest-grade image quality will travel faster. Black and white instead of color. I need to calculate the smallest transmittable unit that’s still me, smiling.”

Nathan Jones emphasized to NASA’s experimenters that he wanted to be kept as busy as possible. He didn’t want too much idle time to worry about his wife and their sons — how, when they were having tough days, he wouldn’t be able to give them “Dad hugs.” He didn’t want to dwell on the lost band performances, piano recitals, cross-country meets and soccer games, or about how his oldest son might be six inches taller by the end of his Martian sojourn. Nor did he care to consider what his friends in central Illinois, who responded to the news of his mission with bafflement and concern, might think. “That’s been the hardest part,” he said. “Their jaws hit the floor. They ask Kacie: ‘Why would you let your husband do this? How are you going to be OK?’ This looks crazy to a lot of people. Maybe it is. It’s not the kind of thing folks around here do.”

Kacie alternated among feelings of anger, fear, grief, defeatism, pride and resolve. There were times when she told Nathan that he shouldn’t go or that she wouldn’t let him go. “As a mother,” she said, “I don’t know that I could even consider leaving my children for a year.” But ultimately she was won over by his enthusiasm.

In the months before the crew was sealed within the habitat — the moment of “ingress,” NASA called it — Nathan threw himself into an extensive “Honey do” list. He worked in the backyard garden, planting tomatoes, cucumbers, blackberries, melons and strawberries for his family to harvest in his absence. He taught them how to garden and weed and clip the hedges. After he left for his final month of training in Houston, Kacie noticed that her sons would stand in the yard and survey the plot with their hands on their hips, in subconscious mimicry of their father.

Nathan also renovated two bathrooms, reconstructed the family car’s carburetor, replaced fixtures and trimmed the lower branches of the pine trees. He gave Kacie the passwords to their accounts and detailed directions on how to file their taxes. He taught her how to use the chain saw. He paid a professional photographer to take a family portrait and over spring break splurged for a Disney cruise. He drafted birthday and holiday cards, gifts and letters for every month (“We’re halfway there!”; “One month to go!”). He hid additional Post-it notes under couch cushions and under mattresses, or in places that Kacie might encounter in moments of stress, like the circuit breaker. “You can do it,” he wrote on the note he hid inside his toolbox. “You got this.”

A final envelope he addressed to Kacie, to open on their 15th wedding anniversary.

Jones and Shannon respected NASA’s discretion about the mission. But if they had wanted better to imagine the next year of their lives, they could have read up on a previous series of Mars simulations that shared some of CHAPEA’s objectives. The Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI-SEAS) experiment was conducted with NASA funding between 2013 and 2017 in a domed habitat on the reddish slope of the Mauna Loa volcano, 3,000 feet below the observatory there that keeps a continuous measurement of the concentration of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere. Civilians were selected to live inside the habitat for as long as 12 months at a time. HI-SEAS studied the nutritional and “psychosocial” benefits of various meal plans, as well as the volunteers’ behavior and mental acuity and the coping strategies they developed to withstand confined isolation.

“Once Upon a Time I Lived on Mars,” a memoir-in-essays by Kate Greene, one of HI-SEAS’ original crew members, includes chapters titled “On Boredom,” “On Isolation” and “Dreams of Mars, Dreams of Earth.” Greene describes how the crushing monotony of the mission changed her. “Somewhere along the way,” she writes, “mental fatigue had become my baseline state.” The crew had difficulty sleeping, were disturbed by the constant monitoring and recording and found that the scheduled leisure time “felt a little forced.” Minor irritations began to madden Greene: the sound of sandals on the stairs, the way a crew member grazed her shin when crossing her leg under the table. She found herself desperately missing quotidian aspects of life on Earth, where she left behind her wife, aging parents and an ailing brother. The smell of fresh pineapple, in a routine sensory test, was enough to make her cry.

HI-SEAS followed Mars500 , the longest Mars simulation yet attempted. Administered by Russia’s ingenuously nomenclatured Institute of Biomedical Problems, Mars500 locked six male crew members together for 520 days, between June 2010 and November 2011, in a faux spacecraft and a faux landing module, and on a faux Mars. The Russian experimenters had hypothesized that, over time, the astronauts would lose motivation, work less effectively and suffer intensifying feelings of isolation from family and friends. After the experiment concluded, the scientists announced that their hypotheses had been “largely confirmed.” Crew members lost trust in the commanders and mission control when communications grew less frequent, developed nutritional problems and grew homesick and depressed. “The 520 days are really not easy to get through,” Wang Yue, a Chinese participant who lost 22 pounds and much of his hair, told China Daily. “It’s impossible to stay happy all the time. After all, I’m human, not a robot.”

Despite the consistency of results, the appetite for Mars simulations appears insatiable. CHAPEA is one of more than a dozen current analogue experiments NASA is participating in, including HERA, a 650-square-foot habitat that regularly houses four participants for as long as 45 days in confined isolation. Since NASA ended its participation in HI-SEAS, a conglomerate of public and private organizations has staged 12 additional missions on Mauna Loa. For nearly a quarter-century, the nonprofit Mars Society has directed research stations in the Utah desert and on a remote island in northern Canada. Mars analogues have been conducted on Dome C of the Antarctic Plateau, in a semiarid tract of northeastern Brazil, in the northern Sahara, within Austria’s Dachstein ice caves and in the Dhofar region in the Sultanate of Oman.

“We’ve seen similar things happen many times,” acknowledges Kelly C. Smith, a philosopher at Clemson University who specializes in the ethics of space exploration and advises NASA, which has no ethicists on staff. “But that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re a waste of time. The stakes are higher than in the past, after all. We’re doing this because we’re planning missions to other worlds.”

It is likely that the first travelers to Mars will have a similar psychological profile to that of Shannon, Jones and the two other participants selected by NASA for the crew: Ross Brockwell, a public-works operations manager in Chesapeake, Va., and Kelly Haston, a stem-cell biologist in the San Francisco Bay Area. All four were not only NASA enthusiasts and in perfect physical health but habitually sought out extended periods of isolation. Brockwell routinely retreated to a camp he had built on undeveloped land in Virginia, living off the grid. Haston is an ultramarathoner, having run some 70 trail races in the last decade, including several hundred-milers. Loneliness was something she had read about in books but never, as far as she could recall, experienced. A passion for isolation might have been as important to NASA’s screening process as educational attainment and blood glucose levels.

The CHAPEA participants should further benefit from their devotion to the cause. Louise Hawkley, an expert on social isolation at the University of Chicago, emphasizes that psychological responses are heavily influenced by whether people choose isolation or have it thrust upon them. A prisoner sentenced to life would be expected to suffer more than a monk who takes a vow of silence. But Hawkley points out that the participants’ loved ones, however supportive they might be, lacked the same autonomy: “Even if the crew member is fine, what happens to the family left behind?” Hawkley wondered if NASA will study the psychological effects of the mission on the families.

It will not. Nor did CHAPEA’s architects seem to have a strong grasp of the history of isolation research. In interviews, they discounted the predictive value of previous experiments, including HI-SEAS. “I don’t believe they were doing the performance metrics that we’re doing,” says Grace Douglas, CHAPEA’s principal investigator, who admitted she wasn’t “fully familiar” with the previous four-year experiment. “Our metrics are going to be at a higher level of detail and more extensive. The resource plan is more accurate.”

Rachel McCauley was the NASA official responsible for funding CHAPEA. When asked what she hoped to learn about human psychology, she dismissed the premise of the question. “The big reason why I funded it,” she said, “is because I need an even more refined answer to the question, How much food does it really take for a Mars mission?”

What about the mission’s psychological aspect? The monotony? The loneliness?

“I’m a hardware person first,” McCauley said. She is, to be precise, a solid-propulsion systems engineer. She has the distinction of being the member of our species who has been most responsible for determining the best method to catapult humanity to Mars. In order to do so, she had to know how much weight a spaceship will carry. McCauley could estimate, down to the milligram, the mass of every nut and bolt, every antivortex baffle and cargo-bay door. But how many corn tortillas and yogurt packets will four astronauts, under psychological duress, consume in 378 days? That question, or some version of it, was what McCauley needed answered. She also needed to know how much clothing they’ll need. Clothes are heavy.

Mathias, the isolation historian, was not surprised to learn that the psychological questions were a secondary consideration for NASA. But his skepticism about CHAPEA went further. Mathias questioned whether any experimental rationale could justify yet another isolation study. “I wonder if the scientific value of these simulation experiments is beside the point,” he said. The experiments, instead, seemed to him “a way of willing the colonization of Mars into being. A form of wish fulfillment — or cosplaying, to put it less poetically. This is about satisfying an urge. There seems to be a compulsion to keep repeating these fake Mars missions until we actually do it. There’s something very beautiful about this idea, but also very macabre at the same time.”

The analogue experiments reflect the utopian promise of our Martian future. For a human mission to Mars is not the highest ambition of the space program. It is just the beginning, a small step for mankind before the giant leap of planetary colonization.

Five months before CHAPEA’s call for applications, Dennis Bushnell, then chief scientist at NASA Langley Research Center and a nearly 60-year veteran of NASA, published “Futures of Deep Space Exploration, Commercialization and Colonization: The Frontiers of the Responsibly Imaginable.” Martian colonization has always been imaginable, particularly to this nation of colonizers. But in his paper Bushnell noted that the prospect has in recent years “moved from extremely difficult to increasingly feasible.” Colonization has also become increasingly desirable, because of “possibly existential societal issues, including climate change, the crashing ecosystem, machines taking the jobs, etc.” — the et cetera perhaps reflective of the obviousness of planetary decline.

A more surprising aspect of the paper is Bushnell’s prediction for how the physical hostility of Mars will be overcome: Colonists will “morph into an altered species.” He cites projections that suggest that “travelers that colonize Mars will, over time, due to the reduced g and radiation exposure, evolve into Martians.” The ultimate promise of NASA’s Mars mission is the chance to begin again — if not, exactly, as human beings, then as Martians.

There is a beautiful and macabre poetry to this rationalization. “Utopia,” after all, derives from the Greek: ou (“not”) and topos (“place”). If we manage to inhabit the not-place of Mars, enjoying a carefree life of not-problems, not-regret and not-environmental-ruin, it makes sense that we should be not-people. We should be Martians. Let people, with all their baggage and fragility and foolishness, stay home.

Mathias likened the incessant Mars analogue experiments to a traumatic repetition: a compulsion to restage a trauma in an irrational, futile attempt to undo a profound damage. “The urge to try to recreate a perfect world is always going to be about rehearsing what we got wrong here,” he said. “We’re not chasing Mars. We’re mourning Earth.”

In late May, a month before sealing themselves within the habitat, the four crew members and two alternates reported to Houston for a final month of training and evaluation. Three weeks before the ingress, NASA hosted a “family weekend” for the crew’s loved ones. The visitors were given a tour of the Johnson Space Center. They met a real astronaut, saw replicas of spaceships, walked around in the red sandbox that crew members would use for their “spacewalks” and asked questions directly of CHAPEA’s lead researcher, Grace Douglas. The three Jones boys were proud to learn how their father was helping to shape the future of humanity.

But the most valuable part of the weekend, the families agreed, was the chance to meet one another. During a barbecue by the hotel pool, they shared their anxieties about the coming year. They exchanged techniques for managing stress and pledged to keep in close contact through a private Facebook page.

On Jake Harwood’s final evening in Houston, Alyssa Shannon prepared a shrimp salad in the hotel kitchenette. It was bittersweet: the last meal she would fix in more than a year. Before leaving Oakland, she had frozen about a dozen feasts for Jake and their friends to enjoy during her absence. She would miss cooking. There would be no pizza on Mars.

The couple gazed out the window at a full moon. There would be 13 more, Jake told her, before she returned from Mars. He would be counting down the full moons until they saw each other again.

They awoke at dawn and watched the sun rise. Alyssa drove him to the airport. “It was hard to say goodbye,” Jake said, if not as hard, he anticipated, as their final phone call before the ingress, which he referred to as the “big one.” But Alyssa’s final phone call from Houston came five days earlier than he expected.

Alyssa announced that NASA had removed her from the mission. The investigators pulled her into a room and told her that she had been “excluded from continuing.” She would be replaced by one of the alternates, Anca Selariu, a microbiologist in the U.S. Navy. Alyssa did not know why she had been removed. The investigators refused to tell her, she said. They said only that their decision had not been based on her performance. They added that sometimes, in the final tests before a mission, they found something that was not “medically serious” but might present a hazard. Like an increased risk of kidney stones.

“Do I have an increased risk of kidney stones?” Alyssa asked.

Kidney stones was just an example, the investigators insisted. But they refused to say more, lest they compromise the integrity of the experiment.

Alyssa doubted that she had been torpedoed by a medical condition. She wondered instead if she wasn’t “exactly the right mix of introvert and extrovert they were seeking.” Or perhaps they had grown concerned about the crew’s social dynamic? If so, Alyssa couldn’t say why. The investigators, she said, told her that she could make up any excuse she wanted, and they wouldn’t deny it. “But lying is so unsatisfying,” she said. “And you have to remember the lie. It’s too challenging. I want to go to the truth. There was a reason, and they couldn’t tell me what it was.”

The uncertainty plagued her, but not as much as the loss she felt from the death of a dream she had nurtured since the Lego Martian colonies of her childhood. She couldn’t help feeling wounded. “This has been hard on my ego,” she said. “It’s a big upheaval. It’s been uncomfortable.” She sighed. “But I have to trust that my departure is for the best of the mission. By stepping back I’m just serving in a different way.”

Her sudden banishment led to some logistical awkwardness at home. “When an astronaut comes back,” Kate Greene wrote, “Earth isn’t where it was.” When Alyssa came back, she found herself suddenly without a job, income or home. Her hospital had promised her a position in 13 months, but in the meantime someone had been hired to replace her. Nor would NASA pay her the full stipend she had been promised, which she says was about $60,000. She didn’t qualify for unemployment benefits. And she had rented her apartment for a year. Though she knew she would be able to move in with Jake, they hadn’t previously decided to live together.

Jake could not disguise his excitement. He met her at the airport and brought her to his house, where they shared a pizza.

Alyssa, an indefatigable optimist, began brainstorming over dinner. Perhaps she would use the sudden windfall of free time to set out on a major backpacking adventure or a cross-country road trip. Maybe she would begin a new career. Or maybe she wouldn’t go back to work — ever. Jake listened, humoring her. Then, with great tenderness, he proposed that she take a couple of weeks to herself before deciding what to do with the rest of her life.

On the afternoon of Sunday, June 25, the couple opened NASA’s YouTube channel. The four crew members stood on a platform in front of the habitat. They wore black jumpsuits embossed with the reddish CHAPEA mission patch: Mars Dune Alpha, rendered not inside a Houston warehouse but at the foot of a Martian sierra, the same mountain range painted on the wall of the sandbox.

“The knowledge we gain here will help enable us to send humans to Mars and bring them home safely,” Grace Douglas said. The crew members expressed their gratitude to NASA. When Anca Selariu said, “I just can’t believe that I’m here,” Alyssa teared up.

As soon as Nathan Jones began speaking about his family, he broke down. Kelly Haston patted his shoulder. “To my wife and kids,” he finally said, through a sob, “I love you to Mars and back.”

Douglas opened the door to the habitat. It was not a special hatch with airlocks or anything: It was just a plain white office door. The crew, waving, entered. Douglas shut the door firmly behind them.

From inside the sealed habitat, the crew could be heard whooping with joy.

In Springfield, Kacie Jones was watching with her sons. She had felt it was important that she be alone with the boys, without any extended family, not knowing how they would respond to the sight of their father leaving for a year. In the end, the boys were fine. Kacie was not. But about 22 minutes after the habitat door closed, she received a text message. It came from Mars.

“I love you,” Nathan wrote.

Kacie took a deep breath. “We’re finally in it,” she told herself. “Which means now we can move forward.” She took the boys for tacos, put them to sleep and set the alarm clock so that she had enough time, in the morning, to get them ready for camp.

At Jake’s house in Oakland, after Alyssa closed the laptop, there was a moment in which they did not know what to do with themselves. They figured Alyssa’s family would worry about her, so she put on a costume spacesuit and dressed Bun Bun, a stuffed rabbit that she had planned to bring to Fake Mars, in a tiny NASA spacesuit. Jake snapped portraits and sent them to her family to let them know she was all right. Or at least that, once the sting of missing out on a year on Mars had subsided, she would be all right. That staying on Earth, with her recipe collections and Bun Bun and her devoted partner, might not be such a terrible outcome after all.

Then she baked a whole-wheat sourdough pizza, and she and Jake ate it, together.

Nathaniel Rich, a contributing writer for the magazine, is the author, most recently, of “Second Nature: Scenes From a World Remade.” Isabel Seliger is an artist and illustrator in Berlin. She often illustrates science articles with narrative elements.

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Never miss an eclipse, a meteor shower, a rocket launch or any other 2024 event  that’s out of this world with  our space and astronomy calendar .

Two spacecraft have ended up askew on the moon this year, illustrating that it’s not so easy to land upright on the lunar surface. Here is why .

In 2022, NASA crashed a $325 million spacecraft into an asteroid named Dimorphos to change its orbit. The impact might have also changed Dimorphos’s shape .

NASA is conducting tests on what might be the greatest challenge to sending people to Mars: the trauma of isolation .

What do you call a galaxy without stars? In addition to dark matter and dark energy, we now have dark galaxies  — collections of stars so sparse and faint that they are all but invisible.

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Will NASA be able to return Mars samples to Earth? New audit raises doubts

Complexity, cost and scheduling are major issues, and MSR is shrouded in doubt.

illustration of a rover and a lander on the surface of mars, with a small helicopter, a rocket and a satellite in the sky above them.

NASA's bold plan to get pristine samples of Mars to Earth for analysis is facing major challenges, according to a new report.

Design, cost and scheduling are all significant obstacles, an audit report of NASA's Mars Sample Return (MSR) Program by the agency's Office of Inspector General (OIG) finds.

MSR aims to return Martian geological samples to Earth for scientific study. It involves landing on Mars to collect samples taken by the Perseverance rover and launching those samples to rendezvous with an orbiter, which will haul them to Earth. 

Related:  NASA's Mars Sample Return in jeopardy after US Senate questions budget

Perseverance is already on Mars, snagging and storing samples. But the program still needs to build a Sample Retrieval Lander (SRL) and an Earth Return Orbiter (ERO), the latter being developed and funded by the European Space Agency (ESA). MSR is one of the most technically complex, operationally demanding and ambitious robotic science missions ever undertaken by NASA, according to the OIG report.

The report notes design, architecture and schedule issues with the Capture Containment and Return System (CCRS). These design issues resulted in adding about $200 million to the budget and one year of lost schedule.

One major area of concern is life-cycle cost estimates for MSR. There is concern that, due to the number and significance of cost increase indicators so far, the $7.4 billion estimate is "premature and may be insufficient," the report finds. Now, the complexity of the MSR mission could drive costs to between $8 billion to $11 billion , the OIG report notes, citing a September 2023 Independent Review Board (IRB) report. Notably, a July 2020 estimate listed costs of $2.5 to $3 billion.

These new figures indicate significant financial challenges and uncertainties in the MSR Program's life-cycle costs. Issues include inflation, supply chain problems and increases in funding requests for specific program components.

The report also highlights the need for enhanced coordination between NASA and ESA. The OIG report offers recommendations to address these challenges. These include ensuring a stable CCRS design, incorporating program complexity into cost and schedule estimates (rather than focusing only on external factors), and reassessing large mission pre-formulation guidance. 

In a bigger-picture recommendation, the OIG report calls for NASA to "develop a corrective action plan that incorporates the lessons learned and recommendations from the Large Mission Study [completed in 2020] to improve the guidance and practices for pre-formulation of large missions."

NASA management concurred or partially concurred in its responses to the report. 

—   Perseverance Mars rover stashes final sample, completing Red Planet depot

 —  Perseverance rover collects Mars samples rich in 'organic matter' for future return to Earth

 —  NASA's troubled Mars sample-return mission has scientists seeing red

The MSR program has recently come under political pressure for its ever-expanding cost estimates, adding to doubt over the continuation of the program. NASA is currently reassessing the overall MSR architecture and its budget. The results could be released later this month.

NASA is also operating under a continuing resolution that freezes spending at 2023 budgetary limits until the spending for the new fiscal year is agreed upon by Congress. This has seen NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, the main player in MSR, to lay off workers , further impacting the program.

MSR is, however, considered a mission of major scientific significance by many planetary scientists. China, meanwhile, is working on its own mission, Tianwen-3 , to collect samples from Mars, launching around the end of the decade.

Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: [email protected].

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Andrew Jones

Andrew is a freelance space journalist with a focus on reporting on China's rapidly growing space sector. He began writing for Space.com in 2019 and writes for SpaceNews, IEEE Spectrum, National Geographic, Sky & Telescope, New Scientist and others. Andrew first caught the space bug when, as a youngster, he saw Voyager images of other worlds in our solar system for the first time. Away from space, Andrew enjoys trail running in the forests of Finland. You can follow him on Twitter  @AJ_FI .

Ingenuity Mars helicopter snapped rotor blade during hard landing last month (video, photo)

Mars helicopter Ingenuity's final resting place named after 'Undying Lands' in 'Lord of the Rings'

SpaceX eyes March 14 for 3rd Starship test flight

  • steve_foston I have a suggestion - why not open this mission up to commercial space based companies participation through a fixed price contract rather than trying to develop the mission in-house by NASA? Maybe SpaceX or Blue Origin can do it cheaper Reply
  • billslugg Fixed price contracts on developmental works are folly. You can't price or schedule development. That's why they call it development. Fixed price contracts with the Government are a sure road to bankruptcy. NASA will change the requirements and micromanage you into the dirt. Not one person at NASA has their fortune tied up in the project. No one will lose a dime if any project fails. They just blame it on the other guy and take the same paycheck. Reply
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Mars in our Night Sky

Mars in our Night Sky

If you were to look up in the eastern sky at the same time each night and note where Mars appears to be compared to the constellations of stars, you would find the planet a little farther east with each viewing. That is, Mars appears to move from west to east from one night to the next.

Every two years or so, there are a couple of months when Mars' position from night to night seems to change direction and move east to west. This strange behavior was very puzzling to early skywatchers. Did the planet really stop, back up, change its mind, and then continue to move forward? Did it have some weird, mystical meaning?

Today we know what's going on. It's an illusion, caused by the ways that Earth and Mars orbit the sun.

Mars Retrograde Happens Every Two Years

The two planets are like race cars on an oval track. Earth has the inside lane and moves faster than Mars -- so much faster, in fact, that it makes two laps around the course in about as much time as it takes Mars to go around once.

About every 26 months, Earth comes up from behind and overtakes Mars. While we're passing by the red planet this year, it will look to us as though Mars is moving up and down. Then, as we move farther along our curved orbit and see the planet from a different angle, the illusion will disappear and we will once again see Mars move in a straight line.

This apparent erratic movement is called "retrograde motion." The illusion also happens with Jupiter and the other planets that orbit farther from the sun.

Just to make things a little more odd, the orbits that Earth and Mars follow don't quite lie in the same plane. It's as if the two planets were on separate tracks that are a little tilted with respect to each other. This causes another strange illusion.

Suppose you were to draw a dot on a sky map each night to show where Mars appears as it moves forward, goes through retrograde, and then resumes its forward motion. Connect the dots, and you'll draw either a loop or an open zigzag. The pattern depends on where Earth and Mars happen to be in their tilted racetrack orbits.

These images show the apparent pattern made by the planet Mars while in 'retrograde motion' during 2014(left) and 2016(right) over Pasadena. The middle of the yellow line bends in a loop, giving the illusion that Mars' movement is erratic.

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  1. How long does it take to get to Mars?

    With current technology, NASA calculations estimate a crewed mission to Mars and back, plus time on the surface, could take somewhere between two and three years. "Three years we know for sure ...

  2. How long does it take to get to Mars?

    Therefore, a light shining from the surface of Mars would take the following amount of time to reach Earth (or vice versa): Closest possible approach: 182 seconds, or 3.03 minutes. Closest ...

  3. How Long Does It Take to Get to Mars?

    The best estimates are that human missions to Mars will be timed to take advantage of a good planetary alignment. Most estimates put the travel time in the range of 150-300 days - that's five to 10 months - and the average is usually around seven months, just like the Perseverance rover.

  4. Trip to Mars

    The spacecraft departs Earth at a speed of about 24,600 mph (about 39,600 kph). The trip to Mars will take about seven months and about 300 million miles (480 million kilometers). During that journey, engineers have several opportunities to adjust the spacecraft's flight path, to make sure its speed and direction are best for arrival at ...

  5. SpaceX: Here's the Timeline for Getting to Mars and ...

    SpaceX's Mars Plan: 2025. This is the earliest point at which Musk thinks a Mars colony could take shape. The CEO has predicted a timeframe of "7 to 10 years" before the first bases take ...

  6. How long does it take to get to Mars?

    The best time to do it is when Earth and Mars are correctly lined up, and this happens once every 26 months. This is the open window astronomers target regularly. Traveling At the Speed of Light Towards Mars. In 2003, Mars reached its closest point to Earth, being located at only 54.6 million km / 33.9 million miles away.

  7. How Long Does it Take to Get to Mars?

    The total journey time from Earth to Mars takes between 150-300 days depending on the speed of the launch, the alignment of Earth and Mars, and the length of the journey the spacecraft takes to ...

  8. How Long Would It Take To Travel To Mars?

    Past missions to Mars have generally taken anywhere from 128 days to nearly one full year. With current technology and rocket designs, NASA estimates that the first rockets carrying humans to Mars will achieve speeds of about 24,600 miles per hour (39,600 kilometres per hour). Moving at these speeds, it would take approximately seven months to ...

  9. How Long Does it Take to Get to Mars?

    Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (2005) took 210 days to reach its destination. Phoenix (2007) completed its travel to Mars in 295 days. Curiosity (2011) touched down on the martian surface after a trip lasting 253 days. MAVEN (2013) entered the martian orbit after a 10-month trip. Insight (2018) reached Mars in 206 days.

  10. Scientists Have Charted The Optimal Route to Mars

    Scientists Have Charted The Optimal Route to Mars. In order to get to Mars, NASA should make a brief detour to the Moon first, according to a group of MIT researchers. It's a very different path than the NASA astronauts in the latest sci-fi action film The Martian take. And it's also not what the real NASA describes in their outline for human ...

  11. Distance to Mars: How far away is the Red Planet?

    The average distance between Mars and the sun is 142 million miles (228 million kilometers). According to a NASA fact sheet, due to Mars' eccentric orbit, at its closest (perihelion) Mars is about ...

  12. The Journey to Mars: How Long Will It Take?

    An essential factor in determining the travel time to Mars is the planets' orbits around the Sun. Both Earth and Mars follow elliptical, or oval-shaped, paths rather than perfect circles. It takes Earth just over a year—365 days—to orbit once around the Sun, while Mars requires almost double that time—approximately 687 Earth days.

  13. Human mission to Mars

    The lowest energy transfer to Mars is a Hohmann transfer orbit, which would involve a roughly 9-month travel time from Earth to Mars, about 500 days (16 mo) [citation needed] ... Delta-v budget - Estimate of total change in velocity of a space mission; Life on Mars - Scientific assessments on the microbial habitability of Mars;

  14. Artemis plan: NASA sees the moon as a stepping stone to Mars

    A crewed mission can get to or from the moon in just three days, whereas a mission straight from Earth to Mars or vice versa would take at least seven months, with a round-trip mission estimated ...

  15. Space Travel Calculator

    Space Travel Calculator Calculate how long it would take to reach planets, stars, or galaxies, as well as fuel mass, velocity and more! Planets Solar System Objects Questions Kids Buyer's Guides

  16. How Long Does It Take To Get To Mars?

    Though this mission design is energy and fuel-efficient, it still has a considerable travel time because it is a very indirect route. Unmanned missions with robotic spacecraft have had a 7 month journey time using this method. NASA estimates that manned missions would take 9 months via this route. How Long Does A Space Probe Take To Get To Mars?

  17. Let's Go to Mars! Calculating Launch Windows

    To calculate the position of Mars at the time of launch, subtract the amount of its motion during the spacecraft's travel time (136 degrees) from its point of arrival (180 degrees). 180 degrees - 136 degrees = 44 degrees. Considering that launch from Earth was at the Hohmann orbit perihelion (point closest to the sun) and arrival is at the ...

  18. How Long Does It Take To Get To Mars? Trips To The Red ...

    Mars stands out as one of the most fascinating planets in the entire Solar System — and a planet many people dream of visiting one day. Unfortunately, actually making a trip to get to the Red Planet can take quite a bit of time. Mars has long been a point of interest for astronomers all over the world.

  19. How Long Does it Take to get to Mars?

    Traditionally, missions to Mars have used a Hohmann Transfer Orbit, which is the most energy-efficient way to travel between two orbiting bodies, but it is not the fastest. Using this method, it typically takes approximately 9 months to travel to Mars. This is the method that has been used by most Mars rovers and orbiters.

  20. Flight to Mars: Calculations

    The time required was derived, about 8.5 months, as well as the position of Mars at the time of launch, about 45° past closest approach. This section calculates two essential details: the velocity boost needed to inject the Mars spaceship into the transfer orbit, and the arrival velocity at the orbit of Mars.

  21. Elon Musk's ITS Travel Time to Mars Estimate

    23. The average travel time to Mars has been quoted to be around nine months (~ 270 days). This assumes current propulsion methods and when Mars and Earth are near each other. Musk has been quoted to say that his ITS space rocket system could make it to Mars in about 80 days - or less than a third of the time current techniques could get us there.

  22. How Long Does It Take to Travel to Mars? A Comprehensive Guide

    Now that we have calculated the approximate travel time to Mars, let's break down the length of time required for different missions. According to a study conducted by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the average estimated travel time for a round-trip mission to Mars is roughly 18 months. This is broken down into nine ...

  23. Can Humans Endure the Psychological Torment of Mars?

    That people will travel to Mars, and soon, is a widely accepted conviction within NASA. ... NASA estimated that the first human beings would land on Mars "no later than the late 2020s" — but ...

  24. Travelmath trip calculator

    What is Travelmath? Travelmath is an online trip calculator that helps you find answers quickly. If you're planning a trip, you can measure things like travel distance and travel time.To keep your budget under control, use the travel cost tools. You can also browse information on flights including the distance and flight time. Or use the section on driving to compare the distance by car, or ...

  25. Will NASA be able to return Mars samples to Earth? New audit raises

    NASA's bold plan to get pristine samples of Mars to Earth for analysis is facing major challenges, according to a new report. ... Notably, a July 2020 estimate listed costs of $2.5 to $3 billion ...

  26. Mars Retrograde

    The two planets are like race cars on an oval track. Earth has the inside lane and moves faster than Mars -- so much faster, in fact, that it makes two laps around the course in about as much time as it takes Mars to go around once. About every 26 months, Earth comes up from behind and overtakes Mars.