The Luna 2 was made by the Soviet Union, and it reached the Moon in The Luna 2 took a direct path to the Moon, and the journey took approximately 34 hours. The longest mission to the Moon was also a relatively recent one; it was slow not because it was an old ship, but because it was extremely fuel and energy efficient. The first successful manned trip to the Moon was the Apollo 11, which blasted off from Earth on July 16, They walked on the Moon for a few hours, and conducted some experiments.
They also collected Moon rocks! They arrived back to Earth safely a few days later, on July The speediest time was set by Nasa's New Horizons spacecraft and it only took eight hours and thirty five minutes to get to the Moon. As space technology advances it's likely we'll be able to cut manned Moon journey times down further. At its furthest point the Moon is around miles km away from Earth.
The closest point is called the 'perigee' and puts the Moon around miles km from us. In other space news, scientists have proposed the existence of a fifth dimension that brings together the cosmic realms of light and dark. Nasa's Mars Perseverance rover will land on the Red Planet later this month. And, four Supermoons will be gracing the night sky in Like other orbiting bodies in space, the moon's orbit is not exactly circular; it is elliptical. This means that the moon is closer to Earth at some times and further than others — that's why we keep hearing about " supermoons " when the moon is closer.
The point of orbit when the moon is closest to Earth is called perigee ; the point of orbit when it is furthest away from Earth is called apogee. Taking advantage of orbital mechanics, astrophysicists can plan lunar missions to coincide when those times that the moon is closer to Earth. Historically, most lunar missions have taken about three days to reach the moon, assuming the moon is at an ideal distance of , miles , kilometers away. This means astronauts travel roughly 3, mph 5, kph on their journey to the moon.
Some uncrewed missions have taken longer in an attempt to save on fuel weight such as China's Chang'e missions which have taken four to five days each. The fastest-ever mission to the moon was the very first one: 's unmanned Luna 1 took just 36 hours at a speed of roughly 6, mph 10, kph. In , New Horizons zoomed past the moon on its way to Pluto just eight hours and 35 minutes after launch and at a speed of 36, mph 58, kph.
Want proof that orbital mechanics are real? The Apollo 11 mission demonstrates that well.
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