As children, surely you have wondered once in a while how long does it take to get to the moon Although for many years it was impossible to do, man finally managed to set foot on this satellite that orbits our planet. It was something incredible! But what is really hard to imagine is that this trip is already available to the public, as long as they are willing to pay for it, of course.
For this reason, the question about how long it takes to get to the moon takes on a new, more touristic approach. It is common to look at how long the trip to Japan, New York or Barcelona lasts, but now it may even be interesting for us to look at how long it would take us to reach the moon, since it can become a new tourist attraction very soon. In this article we are going to answer this question and we will also discuss How far is this satellite from Earth?
How many light years are there between the Earth and the moon?
Before talking about how long it takes to get to the moon, it is first interesting to know how far this satellite is from our planet. Well, to begin with, we must point out that The unit of distance used in the universe is called "light years." It is important to note that the light year is not a measure of time, but rather a measure of distance. It's called a "year" because it refers to the distance light travels in a year, but it has nothing to do with the length of an Earth year.
But what is it exactly? A light year is the distance light travels in a year in a vacuum. In numbers, one light year equals approximately 9.46 trillion kilometers or 5.88 trillion miles. The concept of light years is very useful for measuring distances in the universe, since the distances between astronomical objects are so great that conventional measurements, such as kilometers or miles, are not enough.
Although the unit of measurement of light years is widely used in astronomy, the moon is not as far away as we imagine. In fact, it doesn't even come to a light year. This satellite is the closest celestial object to Earth and is at a distance of approximately 384,400 kilometers from us. To convert this distance to light years, we would simply divide by the distance light travels in one year, which would give us approximately 0.000042 light years.
how long does it take to get to the moon
Although traveling to the moon continues to be a significant challenge, We are getting closer to turning it into something habitual. Billionaire Elon Musk's company, SpaceX, is already offering tickets to orbit this satellite for a week (but not step on it). Although we will still have to wait a few years until these trips can be made, it does not hurt to inform us a little. And who knows, maybe in the future we can live on the moon.
The big question many people ask is how long does it take to get to the moon. As you probably already imagined, the time depends mainly on the means of transport used and on the place where the moon is at the time of launch. In the past, NASA Apollo missions that took astronauts to the moon took around three days to get there. These missions used Saturn V rockets and the Apollo spacecraft to transport the astronauts and the necessary equipment for the journey. Today, space missions to the moon are carried out mainly with unmanned probes. China's Chang'e 4 probe, for example, took around 4 days to reach the Moon after launching in 2018.
How much is the ticket to go to the moon?
Elon Musk's company is not the only one trying to gain a foothold in this new market niche. There are other companies that also want to offer trips to space for tourists. These include World View, Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin. But beware, the prices are not for everyone. For now, The cost of a ticket to travel to space ranges from 200 thousand to 55 million dollars and there are very few who have already been able to make a trip like this or reserve it for the next few years.
It is clear that this experience is reserved only for the richest, for now. But at the rate that technologies are developing, it is only a matter of a few years before tourist trips to the moon, and other parts of space, become commonplace. Still, it doesn't hurt to save some money to be able to see our planet from outside. It will surely be an unforgettable experience!