Sage-Tips

Why did it take so long to fly to the Moon?

However, to send astronauts to the Moon, NASA needed to invest in a whole new breed of rockets and spacecraft. But to reach the Moon, NASA would require a heavy-lift launch vehicle and a spacecraft capable of both reaching the lunar surface and bringing the astronauts back to Earth.

How long does it take Apollo to get to the Moon?

3 days
The short answer is that it takes an average of 3 days to reach the Moon. Between 1969 and 1972, NASA sent 18 astronauts to the Moon as part of the Apollo space program. In addition, five nations and two political unions have successfully landed unmanned spacecraft on the lunar surface or placed them into lunar orbit.

How did Apollo 11 get to the Moon and back?

To escape from Earth, the astronauts needed the three-stage Saturn V rocket to boost their spacecraft to a velocity of more than 25,000 miles per hour. The top half of the vehicle had its own rocket engine, which was fired to lift the astronauts back into lunar orbit to rejoin the command module.

What did Buzz Aldrin do on the moon?

Aldrin set foot on the Moon at 03:15:16 on July 21, 1969 (UTC), nineteen minutes after Armstrong first touched the surface. Armstrong and Aldrin became the first and second people, respectively, to walk on the Moon.

How fast did Apollo 13 travel to the moon?

5,129 feet per second
Long comm break. Apollo 13, now traveling at a speed of 5,129 feet per second. This is 1,563 metres per second. After passing the Moon, the lunar gravity is now slowing them down as it tries to pull them back towards itself.

How long does it take to get to the moon in 2020?

about 3 days
It takes about 3 days for a spacecraft to reach the Moon. During that time a spacecraft travels at least 240,000 miles (386,400 kilometers) which is the distance between Earth and the Moon.

How long did it take Apollo 11 to orbit the Moon?

On July 19, after Apollo 11 had flown behind the moon out of contact with Earth, came the first lunar orbit insertion maneuver. At about 75 hours, 50 minutes into the flight, a retrograde firing of the SPS for 357.5 seconds placed the spacecraft into an initial, elliptical-lunar orbit of 69 by 190 miles.

What was the last move of the Apollo 11 mission called?

This last move, known as lunar orbit insertion, went off without a hitch, swinging the astronauts around the moon at 62 miles above the lunar surface. The Apollo Lunar Module known as the Eagle descends onto the surface of the moon during the Apollo 11 mission, 20th July 1969.

Why does it take so long to get to the Moon?

Because the moon is a long distance away. The Apollo spacecraft launched faster (25,000mph) than any crewed vehicle before or since but they had to cover 250,000 miles in an uphill journey against Earth’s gravity. As a result: about 3 days to the moon.

How long did Neil Armstrong and Neil Aldrin spend on the Moon?

Armstrong and Aldrin spent 21 hours, 36 minutes on the lunar surface at a site they named Tranquility Base before lifting off to rejoin Columbia in lunar orbit. Apollo 11 was launched by a Saturn V rocket from Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island, Florida, on July 16 at 13:32 UTC, and it was the fifth crewed mission of NASA ‘s Apollo program.