We know that the Moon is located at an average distance of 238,855 miles from Earth. So, what are the factors that can influence the duration of this incredible journey? Let’s dive in! Or should I say, let’s take off? The next Moon landing is scheduled for 2024! That being said, NASA’s new “Artemis” mission is generating a great deal of public interest. The last Moon landing occurred almost 40 years ago! In fact, humans have not set foot on the lunar ground since December 14, 1972. In addition, five nations and two political unions have successfully landed unmanned spacecraft on the lunar surface or placed them into lunar orbit. So how long does it take to get to the Moon? The short answer is that it takes an average of 3 days to reach the Moon.īetween 19, NASA sent 18 astronauts to the Moon as part of the Apollo space program. Even with the use of modern technology and advanced propulsion systems, reaching the Moon remains a very difficult and very expensive endeavour. “There’s a number of really cool missions that we can actually do with it,” Beck said.įor the mission, NASA teamed up with two commercial companies: California-based Rocket Lab and Colorado-based Advanced Space, which owns and operates the Capstone satellite.Humans have always been fascinated by the prospect of visiting the Moon – our closest celestial neighbor, and the first stepping stone in the exploration of the solar system. The satellite will use tiny amounts of fuel to make a few planned trajectory course corrections along the way.īeck said they would decide over the coming days what to do with Photon, which had completed its tasks and still had a bit of fuel left in the tank. The plan now is for the 25-kilogram (55-pound) satellite to far overshoot the moon before falling back into the new lunar orbit Nov. The satellite was carried for six days in Photon, with the spacecraft’s engines firing periodically to raise its orbit farther and farther from Earth.Ī final engine burst Monday allowed Photon to break from Earth’s gravitational pull and send the satellite on its way. The Electron rocket that launched June 28 from New Zealand was carrying a second spacecraft called Photon, which separated after nine minutes. If the rest of the mission is successful, the Capstone satellite will send back vital information for months as the first to take a new orbit around the moon called a near-rectilinear halo orbit: a stretched-out egg shape with one end of the orbit passing close to the moon and the other far from it.Įventually, NASA plans to put a space station called Gateway into the orbital path, from which astronauts can descend to the moon’s surface as part of its Artemis program.īeck said the advantage of the new orbit is that it minimizes fuel use and allows the satellite - or a space station - to stay in constant contact with Earth. Space travel: NASA baffled by 'mystery rocket body' that crashed into the moon “It’s an insane capability that’s never existed before.” “For some tens of millions of dollars, there is now a rocket and a spacecraft that can take you to the moon, to asteroids, to Venus, to Mars,” Beck said. “So to see it all come together tonight and see that spacecraft on its way to the moon, it’s just absolutely epic.”īeck said the relatively low cost of the mission - NASA put it at $32.7 million - marked the beginning of a new era for space exploration. It’s been a project that has taken us two, two-and-a-half years and is just incredibly, incredibly difficult to execute,” he said. “It’s probably going to take a while to sink in.
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