100 million miles to the moon? Forum: SSI-List
Thread: 100 million miles to the moon?
# 18390 byHuebner, Jay on Sept. 28, 2003, 2:19 p.m.
Member since 2022-08-22
It is not useful to describe journeys in space in miles, as journeys on Earth are described. Friction is important for transportation on Earth, but not in space. The Earth itself makes a 600 million mile journey each year orbiting the Sun. Space journeys are best described in delta V (change in velocity) for reference to the rocket engines and fuel needed, or time, for the consumables humans on board would need, or for the delay in bringing products to market. As in less than a week (round trip) from the Moon, versus over two years from Mars. Introductory books on Space Science, such as by Damon (Krieger Pub. Co,, 2001) and many others (search Amazon.com on space science) will help with understanding this.
Sincerely, Jay Huebner