66 years after the first unmanned mission to the Moon, and the first manned march to the Moon 56 years have passed. Interestingly, however, it takes longer to reach the Moon with modern methods than the Apollo period. So, how does our time to reach the Moon increase while technology develops?

One of the main reasons for this is that engineers search for new methods that will reduce fuel consumption to make the journey more economical. The moon is an average of approximately 385 thousand kilometers away, and you can estimate how much fuel this journey will require.

Since the orbit of the Moon is not a complete circle, the distance between the Earth and the Earth changes constantly. The moon is approximately 363,300 kilometers at the closest point to us and about 405,500 kilometers from the farthest point. Therefore, the journey time to the Moon varies depending on when the launch is done.

Historically, it took about three days for the crew tasks sent to the Moon to achieve their goals. Apollo 8, the fastest task, reached the moon orbit in 69 hours. Apollo 11 reached the orbit in 75 hours and 50 minutes and had about another day to land on the moon surface.

All of Apollo tasks followed a path known as a direct transfer orbit. This method required a lot of fuel spending to quickly cross the distance based on both the Earth and the Moon. However, the tasks sent to planets such as Mars and Jupiter later showed the advantages of saving fuel and saving longer routes, taking advantage of gravity.

In September 2003, the European Space Agency (ESA) launched the Smart-1 satellite using this approach. This satellite has reached the Moon with a minimum fuel use for 13 months around the world. Although the Moon tasks in the crew will not follow such a long path, fuel savings can be achieved by adjusting the path to be followed according to the nature and purpose of the tasks.

For example, the stances sent into space often aim to push the limits of space discovery and proceed to move away from the Earth as quickly as possible. In 2006, NASA’s New Horizons (New Horizons) passed the Moon in 2006 only in nine hours and reached Pluto in nine years.

The first task sent to the Moon, the Luna 1 task of the Soviet Union was fast and reached its target in 34 hours. However, due to a calculation error, he passed away by missing the Moon and as far as we know, he still continues to progress in space.

NASA’s Mars discovery orbit is orbiting, reaching Mars in seven months. This shows how big a crew task to be held on Mars in the future.