“One small step for man, one giant step for mankind” was Neil Armstrong’s phrase when he stepped on the Moon in 1969, becoming the first person to do so. From then until now, there are a total of 12 who have done it, and it is expected that, in 2025, with NASA’s Artemis III Mission, it will be done again.
But traveling between the Earth and the Moon, How long does it take?
The first thing we must know is the distance between one point and the other. Our natural satellite is 384,400 kilometers from Earth: this later became a unit of measurement, called the lunar distance (LD).
Recently, in the Artemis I Mission (unmanned, reaching only the orbit of the Moon), 434 thousand kilometers were covered, since the Orion spacecraft circled the satellite: it was about 12.8 kilometers from the surface. “We traveled farther than any spacecraft that has ever done it before,” he said. Howard Hu, Orion Program Manager.
Caltech reduces the travel time between the Earth and the Moon by about 3 days. It may take more or less according to the specific distance, “That depends on the chosen landing spot”, indicates the institution.
But if we are more specific, we must capture some examples. Apollo 11 (1969), the first mission to reach the Moon, made up of Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins, it took only 76 hours to arrive.
While Apollo 17 (1972), the last mission in which humans reached the lunar surface, with Gene Cernan, Ronald Evans and Harrison Schmitt, it required 86 hours.
The factors that determine the travel time between the Earth and the Moon
Why does time vary? David Soriano explains it, from ADSL Zone: “The time varies depending on where the Moon is at that moment and what part of the Moon you want to visit,” says the expert. “The first Artemis mission is currently designed to take 103 hours to reach lunar orbit, more than 4 days”.
There are a few more factors that determine travel time between Earth and Moon:
The mass of the spacecraft: the heavier it is, the more fuel it will need to travel to the Moon, so the travel time will be longer.
Rocket Thrust: the more powerful it is, the faster the ship can travel.
The gravitational pull of the Sun and other planets, that prevent a higher flight speed.
But there are records of records. The New Horizons mission, a flyby of Pluto, it took just 9.5 hours to pass the Moon. It was a small, unmanned ship with a much further destination, so it needed more power in its initial sections.
So you can say, with all its nuances, that you travel a distance between two given cities in your country faster what it takes to get from Earth to the Moon.