Introduction:
Have you ever wondered how long a trip to space is? Before you begin making calculations, there are a couple of things you need to know about space travel.
Have you ever wondered how long it takes to get to space? Or how long does a space trip last? Space trips are amazing and can take people higher than any airplane or rocket ever has. For example, what speed would you need to reach the Moon?
The Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle was a reusable spacecraft system launched by the United States government. The system was used from 1981 until 2011 and consisted of two orbital-class vehicles: the Orbiter vehicle, which carried all payloads, and the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA), which ferried the fully fueled Orbiter to the launch site. After completing its mission in orbit, each vehicle returned to Earth under its own power.
The Space Shuttle was developed in response to delays in developing and launching the Space Transportation System (STS). The system's first mission, piloted by John Young, took place in April 1981 and performed a number of servicing missions for satellites in low Earth orbit. After this initial test phase, four more piloted missions followed before Young retired from NASA.
You can't get much farther than the Earth's orbit. The Space Shuttle was designed to carry astronauts and tons of cargo into space, then return them safely to Earth.
The Space Shuttle was launched on two different rockets: the Orbiter and the Solid Rocket Boosters. The first launch in 1981 took place from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It was a success, but a few years later it was destroyed in an accident during re-entry.
The second launch took place in 1984 and continued for four more years. By 1992, the program had been suspended due to budget cuts and other issues.
The Vomit Comet
The Vomit Comet is a spacecraft that was launched in 1971, and it's the first spacefaring vehicle to use toilet technology.
The Vomit Comet was a test flight for NASA's Apollo program, which would eventually send humans to the Moon and back. The Vomit Comet consisted of a capsule that contained three astronauts and two dogs (who were supposed to be sent up to space if all had gone well).
The mission was designed to test how long it would take for astronauts in zero gravity to become sick. It took 18 days for all three astronauts to get sick from their lack of exercise, food, and water in microgravity.
The mission is also significant because it was the first time humans were exposed to toxic gases such as carbon dioxide and nitrogen dioxide without full-pressure suits or masks.
The Vomit Comet is a capsule that was used for the first time in 1965 to carry astronauts to the space station. It was made by SSTL (Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Research Ltd.) in England, and it is still used today by NASA.
The Vomit Comet can hold up to six people at a time, with an emphasis on safety. The capsule is pressurized with nitrogen gas, which helps prevent decompression sickness (also known as "the bends") and other forms of discomfort.
The journey from Earth to space takes about eight hours, but it's not all fun and games during this time. Astronauts must endure days of training before they're ready for their trip into orbit."
Hubble Space Telescope
The Hubble Space Telescope was launched into space on 25 April 1990. It is operated by the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland, which was responsible for its development.
It was built by NASA over a period of 22 years and launched into orbit on the Space Shuttle Challenger on 24 April 1990.
The telescope's mission is to provide images of astronomical objects beyond Earth's atmosphere that cannot be viewed from ground-based telescopes.
The telescope's mirror was made from beryllium-copper-aluminum (BeCoAl) and added to the International Space Station in 1998.
The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is a space telescope that was launched into space by the Space Shuttle in 1990. It's managed by NASA but is operated as a joint project with ESA. The telescope is named after Edwin Hubble, an American astronomer who invented the theory of relativity and discovered that the universe was expanding.
The HST is one of the largest optical telescopes in the world and it has several scientific instruments such as cameras and spectrographs that can be used to detect light from distant galaxies or stars. It also has a solar X-ray detector that can help us understand how our Sun works and what happens during its long life cycle.
Because HST is so far away from Earth, it needs to be adjusted regularly to maintain its orientation and position in space. This process is known as pointing or slewing (because it's like turning a pointer on an overhead projector). Every few weeks, HST's operators send commands from ground control centers around the planet to keep it pointing exactly at one spot in space — called the prime focus — where all its instruments are focused on when they're turned on for observation.
International Space Station
The International Space Station (ISS) is a permanently manned spacecraft, currently operated by the space agency of the Russian Federation. The ISS consists of pressurized modules, external trusses, and solar arrays. The ISS serves as a microgravity and space environment laboratory in which crew members conduct experiments in biology, human biology, physics, and astronomy.
The first component launched into orbit around the Earth was the Soviet Union's Salyut 1 space station in 1971. The first American space station was Skylab, which was launched in 1973 and orbited Earth until it burned up upon re-entry in 1979.
In 1985, an American-led coalition of nations began construction on the space station Freedom, which was renamed Freedom 7 before its 1984 launch following a redesign of its orbit around Earth. Two years later it disintegrated during re-entry into the atmosphere.
The Russian Mir Space Station, which began operation in 1986, remains operational today as of 2017 after being repaired twice since its initial launch. It has been visited by more than 100 astronauts from 17 different countries who have conducted 637 scientific experiments and completed over 568 days worth of crew time aboard Mir during its lifetime.
The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest spacecraft ever built and was launched into orbit on 20 November 1998. It is a modular structure, built by 15 different countries, including the United States, Japan, Russia, and Canada.
The ISS travels around the Earth in an orbit of about 400 miles above the surface of our planet. It travels at an average speed of 17,000 mph (27,400 km/h), traveling almost twice as fast as a high-speed train.
The ISS has been continuously occupied since November 2 2000 when a Russian module called Zarya became attached to it. The first crew arrived on board on November 5, 2000.
Apollo 11 (First Moon Landing)
The Apollo 11 mission is the only moon landing of the 20th century. It was the first to land on another celestial body and the first manned mission to have traveled beyond the Earth's sphere of influence.
The mission took place from July 16 to 24, 1969, when astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin walked on the Moon. It was launched by a Saturn V rocket that had a takeoff weight of 363 tons and could carry 340,000 pounds (154,000 kg) into low Earth orbit.
The Apollo 11 mission was the first lunar landing by humans. It was carried out on July 20th, 1969, by an all-American crew: Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Edwin Aldrin.
The three men traveled to the Moon in three separate spacecraft: Columbia (which carried Armstrong and Aldrin), Eagle (which carried Collins), and ECLSS (which was a small habitat module that contained life support systems).
The total trip time from Earth to the moon was about 2 hours and 45 minutes. The astronauts spent about 8 hours on the surface of the moon before returning to Earth.
Pioneer 10
The first humans to travel beyond our planet, the Pioneer 10 and 11 spacecraft were launched in 1972. They were designed to take a long, slow trip through space, with an ultimate destination of Jupiter.
After traveling for over 12 years, the spacecraft made its closest approach to Jupiter on December 3, 1973, and then entered into orbit around the giant planet on December 4. There it remained for nearly three months before being sent on its way again in January 1974.
Pioneer 11 followed suit and entered Jupiter's orbit on March 1, 1974. It spent another year there before being directed back towards Earth to determine how much fuel was left after its two-year journey.
The first space flight, by the Soviet Union's Vostok 1, was made on April 12, 1961.
The U.S. had not yet fully committed to manned space exploration at this point. The first American orbital mission, Mercury-Redstone 3, was launched on May 5, 1961, and took an accidental ballistic path around the Earth before entering orbit. It was a failure, but it paved the way for further space exploration by NASA.
Pioneer 10 was launched on March 2, 1972, and traveled around the Sun for 6 months before re-entering the Earth's atmosphere and burning up over Australia as planned.
Conclusion:
It's hard to answer the question "How long is a trip to space?" without looking at the specifics of the mission. The Russian Soyuz craft takes three days to reach ISS, which orbits 220 miles above Earth. But a trip from Earth's surface all the way into orbit takes about eight minutes. Not an ideal commute, but it only takes seven months to get back home if you miss your connecting flight!