I recently read that it takes 260 days to reach Mars, but a shuttle cannot be used. Why is this?

Question

Alright. I have recently became interested in the exploration and terraforming of Mars. Now, I had heard before it took years to reach Mars, but instead, I found one that says it only takes 260 days at a certain point. But, it also said that a space shuttle is incapable of making the trip. Now, I was wondering why this is?

Answer 1

that's about nine months which sounds pretty close. but you have to make many calculations to lanch at the perfect time to get there when it's closest to earth.

jani

Answer 2

You seriously need some education in Space and Astronomy.

Shuttles are what they are – shuttles.  They shuttle backwards and forward to the ISS, just a few hundred miles above the Earth’s surface.  

The mission to get a ship to Mars is a massive scale in comparison.  It would be more than the difference between an airport Shuttle Bus and a 747 flight from USA to Australia.  

Shuttles were built for one small purpose.  Are you aware that no human has been beyond Earth orbit since the last Apollo flight to the moon in 1972?  Do you realise that?

Go read what it took to get to the Moon – read about Apollo missions which were developed over 8-11 years of intense work.  

Mars would be a hundred times as difficult.  

You watch too much Star trek.

Answer 3

you know a lot of what people have said is somewhat true but are missing the main issues involved.  first off the current shuttle has insufficient fuel but that problem could be fixed easily.  mass really isn't a factor in velocity but a factor in acceleration which would in turn require more fuel to burn.  flight path and vectors are hardly important to the relevance as to whether the shuttle could do the job or not mainly due to the fact that objects in space do not need to be aerodynamic to reach the minimum velocity to make a successful rendezvous with mars.  really the only real problem that is currently unsolvable is the radiation issue.  the current shuttle is only built for earth orbit and not for lengthy periods of time therefore the radiation shielding is not sufficient for a mars expedition.  to tell you the truth the only real thing standing in between man and the rest of the solar system is radiation.  that and bureaucracy.  but that gets in the way of everything now does it?

Answer 4

Traveling in space is not like as simple like point A to B.  The planets are always revolving and in one year, Mars and Earth can be next to each other and the next the farthest apart.  The shuttle does not carry enough fuel.  The shuttle relies on those external tanks like we always see for fuel for lifting off.  So the trip back will be completely different too.  It might take 5 months to get there, but 2 years to get back.  How will the shuttle take off from Mars?  All these problems on Earth must be solved for Mars too.

Answer 5

Yeah I heard that it takes about 5 months, but I guess a shuttle can't make it because it has to carry enough oxygen and supplies to get there and back, and that's a lot of oxygen to carry. . .10 months worth, plus oxygen for the time spent on Mars.  And can you imagine living in a shuttle for 10 months?  Those things are tiny.

Answer 6

I'm not sure, but I'm certain that for a space shuttle to land safely it needs a landing strip and an airport to guide the landing (which we don't have on mars at the moment).

Answer 7

The shuttle is designed for low earth orbit only, due to its size and weight.  It's current propulsion system is not powerful enough to provide the shuttle with the needed escape velocity to leave the Earth and reach the correct trajectory.

260 days sounds about correct -- that's the optimal (most efficient) trajectory to intersect Mars (assuming the time is right, as it's only possible to intercept Mars once a year at best).