With an estimated diameter of 1,392,684 km (865,374 miles), the Sun is more than 100 times larger than Earth and contains 99.8% of all the mass in our solar system (well, almost—the combined mass of the planets adds up to around 3%). It’s so big that if it were hollow, you could fit 1.3 million Earths inside it! Learn how long it would take to go from where we are now all the way to the surface of our nearest star—and why you wouldn’t want to try riding your bike there!
Solar Sails
It is possible that one day we will be able to use solar sails as a means of transport. But how fast are they and what would it take for us to get there?
If you were trying to get from Earth to Venus with a solar sail, it would take about 17 months. For Mars, you’d need two years. To reach Jupiter, which is 5 times farther away than Mars, it would take around 7 years! And if we wanted to travel all the way out to Pluto (the most distant planet), it would take 50 years.
However, even if we had a solar sail capable of speeds 100x faster than our current technology, it would still take 12 years just to get out past Neptune – whereupon you’re still not even halfway! Even at light speed, it would still take 40 years to make the journey. As crazy as this sounds, this journey is so far away that going into space might be necessary in order to explore these outer reaches of our Solar System… but we’ll talk more about this next time! Before we go, have any questions about these figures or what it would take to make the journey to our nearest star?
Space Elevators
The idea of an elevator that can carry people and cargo into space is a staple in science fiction. However, while many ideas have been proposed, none are currently feasible. A space elevator would be built on Earth and reach up into space. The cable would be made of high-strength materials like carbon nanotubes or diamond nanothreads. At the top of the cable, a counterweight would keep it taut. Then cars would travel back and forth along the cable, sending them hurtling skyward. The fastest design could transport material into space at about 160 kilometers per hour (or 100 miles per hour). In theory, this system could deliver a payload every 10 minutes or so—much faster than any rocket we’ve ever seen—and it wouldn’t need fuel! But there are major problems with this idea. For one thing, scientists still haven’t figured out how to make these cables strong enough. Carbon nanotubes might work, but they’re not yet available in long lengths. Even if they were though, the cable would probably stretch and break under its own weight before it reached the height needed for outer space. We also don’t know how to build a stable counterweight for such an enormous distance. And even if all those obstacles were solved, scaling up such a massive project would be expensive and take decades of research…
Nuclear Fusion Powered Rockets
Nuclear fusion is a process where energy is generated from a nuclear reaction. The fuel for this reaction is deuterium (an isotope of hydrogen) and tritium (another isotope of hydrogen). The fuels have an atomic weight ratio of 2.5; thus, it requires less energy to produce them. Unfortunately, these fuels are not available in large quantities on Earth; it would take about 10 years to extract enough fuel for one trip to the Sun and back with our current technology. We could also use antimatter as fuel. Antimatter can be produced artificially by reacting positrons and electrons at high energies. However, even if we were able to get more than enough antimatter, the journey time to reach the Sun’s surface is estimated at around 180 days. There are other alternatives such as using nuclear fission or fission powered rockets. These two methods use radioactive elements that need to be handled with care because they pose health risks when mishandled. These methods would take up to three times longer than the fusion method to reach the Sun’s surface due to their much slower acceleration rate and higher thrust-to-weight ratios. If there was no atmosphere, then the propellant needed would be reduced drastically and the journey to the Sun would take just over 100 days. If you want to know how long your own journey will take before you make it happen, try out NASA’s Trajectory Calculator!
Large Asteroid Launched into Orbit Around The Earth Then Landed On The Moon
In this scenario, a large asteroid would have to be launched into orbit around Earth and then landed on the moon. Once it was in orbit, it would be possible for a rocket containing humans and supplies to land on its surface. The astronauts would need about a year before they could return home because of the distance from Earth and how much fuel is required for such a long journey. If everything went as planned, it would take three days to get back to Earth. Unfortunately, there are many risks that come with launching an asteroid into space and landing it on the moon. For example, if someone miscalculated one calculation while sending a spacecraft there, the spacecraft may never make it out of earth’s atmosphere or even out of our galaxy. Other dangers include asteroids smashing into each other, pieces of the asteroid falling off, or just not being able to land on the moon. We also don’t know what kind of environment might exist on the asteroid when we get there and if it has any life forms living inside. Asteroids can also change trajectory based on gravitational pulls from planets like Jupiter and Saturn, so by the time we reach ours, it may not be where we expect it to be. And lastly, at certain points during the trip out there, people in the spacecraft will have to go without food for more than two months. All these factors add up to making landing on an asteroid a very dangerous endeavor that should only be attempted if absolutely necessary.
