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 1 year
about 1 year
about 7.5 years
about 7.5 years
about 22.5 years
about 22.5 years
about 2.5 years
about 2.5 years
To calculate the time it would take the spaceship to reach Mars, we can use the ratio of the distances between Earth and the Moon and between Earth and Mars.
The Moon is about 386,400 km from Earth, and Mars is about 140 times farther away.
So, the distance between Earth and Mars would be 386,400 km * 140 = 54,096,000 km.
Given that the spaceship took 3 days to reach the Moon, we can use this information to estimate how long it would take to reach Mars.
If we assume a linear speed, we can set up a proportion:
Distance traveled to reach Mars / Distance traveled to reach the Moon = Time taken to reach Mars / Time taken to reach the Moon.
Substituting the values:
54,096,000 km / 386,400 km = Time taken to reach Mars / 3 days.
Simplifying the ratio:
140 = Time taken to reach Mars / 3 days.
Cross-multiplying:
Time taken to reach Mars = 140 * 3 days = 420 days.
Therefore, it would take that same spaceship about 420 days (about 1 year) to reach Mars, if Mars stays in place.