Subject:
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Re: Transit Time to Mars
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.geek
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Date:
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Thu, 16 Dec 1999 07:30:22 GMT
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Viewed:
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159 times
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Steve Bliss wrote
> If a spaceship could accelerate at a constant rate of 1G, how long
> would it take to get safely to Mars?
> Assume the distance to Mars is 36 million miles.
It's not. And also it's not a straight line, nor is it flat.
At best, you could slingshot off the moon with a grazing orbit (about
100m at perihelion, and hit atmosphere in less than 24 hours I think.
Only once per orbit, and you have to be very precise about it. But the
orbital mechanics are way, way beyond my recollection.
But 1G will still get you pretty much anywhere in the inner system within
a week. All you need is the 1G...
I'm quite interested in the idea of cheap, reusable platforms, but I
think we need to get a little more serious about it before it's going
to go anywhere. Equatorial rail launches seem to be the most efficient
way to fly stuff up, either that or airplane based launches. But a JATO
train seems a much cooler idea for the first stage of a rocket, even if
it does mean building it up Kilamanjaro.
Moz
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Transit Time to Mars
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| Basic physics word problem, which I thought of because of NASA's publicity about renewed Mars exploration, and putting people on Mars: If a spaceship could accelerate at a constant rate of 1G, how long would it take to get safely to Mars? Assume the (...) (25 years ago, 15-Dec-99, to lugnet.off-topic.geek)
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