Ad Astra, Per Aspera

(In reality, to save fuel, we use the gravity of the Sun and inner planets to speed up our spacecraft, so they don't take a "direct" route from the Earth to their final destination.) Using round numbers and averages, the distance from Mars to Neptune is about 20 times longer than the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inNSTA Reports Vol. 31; no. 4; pp. 18 - 19
Main Author Blickenstaff, Jacob Clark
Format Trade Publication Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Washington National Science Teachers Association 01.11.2019
Subjects
Aerospace Education
Astronauts
Charged particles
Cosmic rays
Jones, Tommy Lee
Mars
Middle Schools
Moon
Multinational space ventures
Pitt, Brad
Science education
Solar system
Space Exploration
Travel
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Summary:(In reality, to save fuel, we use the gravity of the Sun and inner planets to speed up our spacecraft, so they don't take a "direct" route from the Earth to their final destination.) Using round numbers and averages, the distance from Mars to Neptune is about 20 times longer than the distance from the Earth to Mars. Energy bursts like this are a real threat to our astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS), but those come from solar storms or solar flares on the Sun. Ad Astra is certainly a good way to start a conversation about the scale of the solar system, and could connect to NASA's plans for a Mars mission in the coming decades.