One of the main character traits of any person is curiosity. It is to her that humanity owes the majority of scientific discoveries and the benefits of technological progress based on them. Since ancient times, man has gazed with interest at the night sky, in which countless stars shone, and the moon slowly floated through the firmament. It is not surprising that since then the dream to visit some celestial body has not left a person.
The invention of the telescope confirmed the assumption that the Moon is at a minimum distance from the Earth. From that moment, science fiction writers in their novels sent fearless travelers to this heavenly body. It is interesting that the proposed methods were quite in line with the spirit of the time: a cannonball, a cannon shell, a rocket based on a jet engine, an anti-gravity substance keirit (G. Wells), etc. True, no one could tell exactly how long to fly to the moon.
Since then, quite a lot of time has passed. Although the term “many” is applicable to the duration of a human life, only a moment has passed for history. Now the natural satellite of the Earth is increasingly viewed not just as an abstract goal of flight, but as a basis for the bases of the future. These can be settlements under a heavy-duty dome, airtight cities under the surface, automatic observatories and gas stations for space ships. Truly, a fantasy flight has no limits. Surprisingly, in this case, many do not even know how much to the moon.
Now the distance from the Earth to the satellite is calculated with high accuracy. Therefore, knowing the speed, you can calculate how long it takes to fly to the moon. It is known that the distance between the central points of these celestial bodies is 384,400 km. But since to determine the travel time you need to know the path between the surfaces, you need to subtract the values of the radii. At the Earth it is 6378 km, and at the satellite 1738 km. The exact answer to the question: "How much to fly to the moon?" suggests the need to take into account the features of the orbit of our natural satellite. As you know, the trajectory of the moon is close to an oval (that is, elliptical), so the path length varies within as much as 12%, which is quite a lot. So, with the closest approach (perigee), the distance is 363 104 km, but at the farthest point (apogee) already 405 696 km. Given the sum of their radii, we subtract the known values from a smaller number and as a result we get 354,988 km. This is the distance from the Earth to the lunar surface.
Based on the distance stated above, you can definitely say how much to fly to the moon. It remains to take into account only the speed of movement with which it is planned to carry out such a desired journey. So, the flight time to the surface of a natural satellite depends on the chosen vehicle and takes:
- 160 days when driving in a car moving at a speed of about 100 km / h;
- accordingly, an airplane flying at least 800 km per hour will require “only” 20 days;
- the ships of the American Apollo program reached the surface of our satellite in three days and four hours;
- Having developed a second space velocity of 11.2 km / s, it will be possible to cover the distance in 9.6 hours;
- turning into clean energy (remember the “Space Odyssey” by Arthur Clark) and moving at the speed of light (300,000 km / s), the goals can be achieved in an insignificant 1.25 s;
- well, but to the adherents of the statement: “You go quietly - you will continue!” you will have to spend at least nine years if you continuously go in the usual step at a speed of 5 km / h.
Obviously, the question is: “How long to fly to the moon?” it can now be considered resolved. It remains only to choose a vehicle, then, depending on the decision made, stock up with the proper patience, the required amount of provisions and hit the road.