A human-operated spaceship reaches the moon in 3 days. The moon is about 386,400 km from Earth. Mars, our closest planetary neighbor, is, at its closest, about 140 times farther away from us than the moon if Mars stays in place. Assuming a very simple model of the solar system, about how long would it take that same spaceship to reach Mars?(1 point)
Responses
about 22.5 years
about 22.5 years
about 1 year
about 1 year
about 2.5 years
about 2.5 years
about 7.5 years
It would take about 7.5 years for the same spaceship to reach Mars.
To determine how long it would take the spaceship to reach Mars, we can use the information given that Mars is about 140 times farther away from Earth than the moon. We already know that it takes 3 days to reach the moon, which is approximately 386,400 km away from Earth.
Therefore, the distance between Earth and Mars would be 140 * 386,400 km = 54,096,000 km.
Now, if we assume that the spaceship maintains a constant speed, we can calculate the time it would take to cover this distance. Let's assume the spaceship travels at the same speed it took to reach the moon, which is approximately 386,400 km / 3 days = 128,800 km/day.
So, to cover a distance of 54,096,000 km at a speed of 128,800 km/day, it would take approximately 54,096,000 km / 128,800 km/day = 420.31 days.
Rounding this off, we can say that it would take the spaceship about 420 days to reach Mars.
Therefore, the correct response is: about 1 year.