Questions tagged [travel]
Questions related to any kinds of travel where entering space is involved.
50
questions
3
votes
1
answer
332
views
Creating an animation short and need orientation info
I'm creating a short film celebrating Voyager 1's progress out of our Solar home. I would like to be as accurate as possible.
Question: What is the craft's normal orientation as it travels? Is the ...
user52823
3
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Space craft and interstellar objects
How do the Voyager Spacecrafts avoid crashing into objects in interstellar space?
1
vote
1
answer
182
views
space is a vacuum there is no drag, so would hydrogen harvesting from space to use as fuel be possible once in orbit? [closed]
If space is a vacuum and there is no drag, would hydrogen harvesting from space to use as fuel be possible?
10
votes
4
answers
3k
views
Is it possible for an Orion drive-based spaceship to experience smooth artificial gravity?
One of the problems of using an Orion drive or any pulsed based drive, is that the occupants will feel a sudden jolt of force instead of a smooth constant acceleration for artificial gravity. Is there ...
- 565
23
votes
2
answers
5k
views
Elon Musk's ITS Travel Time to Mars Estimate
The average travel time to Mars has been quoted to be around nine months (~ 270 days). This assumes current propulsion methods and when Mars and Earth are near each other.
Musk has been quoted to say ...
- 350
3
votes
4
answers
1k
views
How can we avoid collisions when moving from one orbit to another?
Imagine that my ship is parked in LEO and needs to transfer to a higher orbit. It makes a Hohmann transfer and flies to the needed orbit by an elliptical trajectory. But this trajectory is crossing a ...
- 604
3
votes
2
answers
323
views
How to fly from Earth to Mars if the differences between phase angles is too big for Hohmann transfer but we have fuel for other transfers?
Hohmann transfer is possible when Earth and Mars positions are appropriate for this https://ai-solutions.com/_freeflyeruniversityguide/interplanetary_hohmann_transfe.htm
This happens one time in two ...
- 604
34
votes
4
answers
7k
views
Why are the recent flights of two billionaires discussed in terms of space travel?
Recently, there has been much attention on the fact that billionaires Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson were passengers in very high-altitude flights. Reputed media outlets discussed these events as &...
- 450
2
votes
1
answer
673
views
How do we get to Mars in a week (7 days)?
Looking at the times that are quoted to go to Mars (months) makes me wonder what speed do we need to get there in a week?
Chemical rockets can get to ~4.5 Km/s, thermal nuclear rockets is about twice ...
- 859
2
votes
1
answer
588
views
Why would it take so long (22 minutes!) to travel from Hong Kong to Singapore flying SpaceX?
In the SpaceX video Starship | Earth to Earth they show the flight time from Hong Kong to Singapore to be 22 minutes.
What's taking so long? It's only 4 hours by airplane (and US $275!)
- 149k
4
votes
1
answer
167
views
Compressed Air Spaceship
Imagine a people who live within the debris ring of a planet. They make their homes on rocks that are only dozens of miles in diameter, so escape velocity is not a concern. They also do not need to ...
- 143
1
vote
1
answer
410
views
What would happen if you jumped out of a moving spacecraft?
I've watched a film where one of the characters claimed to have rapidly disembarked a moving spacecraft during a 5g burn (?!) and immediately wondered how he survived.
For example, you're on a ...
- 113
5
votes
1
answer
221
views
How much harder would space exploration be if the Earth rotated like Uranus does?
Let's say the Earth got knocked a bit silly in the distant past and somehow space-loving life evolved on this planet. They roll around on an Earth with an axial tilt of 98°. How much harder is it for ...
- 10.6k
3
votes
2
answers
795
views
Do they actually regularly send out people with space ships to spacewalk out and fix broken satellites?
I have an extremely limited understanding on how many people have been "in space" (at least in orbit around Earth) and how many people go there every year/month/week(?). It could be 1 per year or 100 ...
- 39
1
vote
0
answers
89
views
Which object has been on other planet(s) or other natural bodies the most times? What if orbits count?
Following answer(s) to Which object has been to space the most times? answer, and related to Objects that have been on the Moon multiple times one.
Question: Are there any object(s) that travelled to ...
- 91
20
votes
5
answers
6k
views
Is a midspace space station between Earth and Mars practical?
A recent answer included the following:
For example if you were to start a colony on mars, in this order for supplies and other necessities to be delivered there would need to be a network of space ...
- 27.1k
1
vote
5
answers
184
views
Forces experienced during transfer orbit
As I understand it, astronauts are weightless because they are in constant free fall around the earth. To get from earth to the moon or earth to mars, spaceships execute a transfer orbit, where they ...
- 193
0
votes
1
answer
169
views
Is it theoretically possible to create absolute velocity?
I think I read somewhere that it's impossible to create absolute zero velocity because there is always a reference point? what defines the reference?
I seen the comments here: https://www.quora.com/...
8
votes
1
answer
2k
views
What are/were the Customs requirements for astronauts?
When the Apollo 11 astronauts returned to US territory they famously went through US Customs where they listed "moon" as part of their flight routing:
Was that a one-off?
What are procedures today? ...
- 181
1
vote
2
answers
136
views
At what point of a standard transition from Earth to Mars do both planets have the same apparent magnitude, and what's its value?
Apparent magnitude is meant with respect to the crew of the vehicle. For the trajectory, please pick any that can be considered normal.
Also, it would be nice to have comparisons with other objects ...
- 5,475
1
vote
1
answer
132
views
Would it be possible to reach Mars using the same fuel-saving method SpaceIL's Beresheet is using?
A few minutes before SpaceIL's Beresheet spacecraft was launched into space, Israeli prime minister Netanyahu congratulated SpaceIL and all those involved and said: "We are already waiting for you to ...
- 379
11
votes
3
answers
2k
views
What is the fastest rover that has ever traveled on the surface of an extra-terrestrial body?
What is the fastest rover currently moving on the surface of another celestial body? At what speed with our technology currently does physics restrict our speed limits on the surfaces of solar system ...
- 7,493
4
votes
4
answers
2k
views
What is the fastest we could travel in space, or have ever traveled in space?
What is the fastest vehicle currently in space? With our current technology, at what point does physics start to restrict our speed in space?
- 1
8
votes
1
answer
281
views
Could a spacecraft be put into such an orbit that it would alternately slingshot around Mars and the Earth?
I was wondering if a spacecraft could be put into such an orbit that it would alternately slingshot around Mars and the Earth. This way it it would be making a continuous trip from Earth to Mars and ...
- 127
1
vote
1
answer
141
views
How far did the Mars Polar Lander travel?
How far did the Mars Polar Lander travel in its journey to the red planet?
I couldn't find the answer on Wikipedia or on the official NASA site.
I'd prefer some answer based on a good source, or ...
- 113
3
votes
1
answer
111
views
Current biggest challenge [closed]
What is regarded as the current single biggest challenge/hurdle limiting space exploration?
Once that tipping point has past it would pave the way for future exploration to dramatically increase.
- 41
1
vote
0
answers
94
views
Are destination coordinates sufficient to travel to a far place?
Imagine we want to go to Alpha Centauri,
Let's assume we are at position {100, 100, 100} and the star is at position ...
- 517
5
votes
5
answers
691
views
How might Earth's location be referenced in stellar terms?
Apologies if this has been asked before using terminology for somebody more familiar with the subject matter. I've searched but cannot find an answer.
Assuming space travel was possible (to other ...
- 153
1
vote
1
answer
156
views
What would happen to communication if we stayed in contact with a person going to mars?
If we talk to a person on mars it would take about 30 minutes before they would see the communication, but lets say we stayed in contact 24/7 by video calling starting from Earth, what would happen?
...
- 121
1
vote
2
answers
3k
views
Do we travel horizontally in same plane or vertically while exploring space? [closed]
While looking from Earth's surface it gives the impression that all planets, stars, sun etc are above our heads. When a rocket travels from earth to outer space, it takes a trajectory and gives the ...
- 113
2
votes
1
answer
919
views
Which is the longest distance traveled by a space craft?
Which is the longest distance traveled by a space craft? Manned or unmanned? I believe it's Voyager, but I am not sure about the distance it traveled or is still traveling.
I believe the mission ...
- 123
3
votes
6
answers
616
views
Can a launch of a rocket or ship from Earth go so badly that it damages the Solar System?
Is it possible for a launch of a space object originating from Earth to go so badly that it would cause permanent damage to the Solar System or even destroy it?
Example: a spaceship going off ...
- 157
12
votes
3
answers
3k
views
How much gravity is actually needed to avoid serious health consequences?
Most discussion I have read about using tethers and rotation in order to simulate gravity on spacecraft, talk about simulating Earth's gravity - 1g or 9.8 m/s2.
Baked into the 1g figure is the ...
- 433
6
votes
3
answers
1k
views
Mechanically propelled spaceship?
Is it possible to have some sort of a spaceship that basically runs on electricity and "butt kicks" itself forward? Or would it stand still because every force has an equal force in the opposite ...
- 61
0
votes
1
answer
6k
views
What is the amount of force needed to move an object in space?
Consider an object placed in space, where there is no gravity. What is the amount of force needed to move the object by one unit length?
How does that relate to the mass of the object and the time ...
- 375
1
vote
2
answers
151
views
Increasing the earth's distance from the sun with only the sun's photons as a force [duplicate]
What would be the best way to move the earth if possible by human intervention via only using photons from the sun as a means of momentum force to move earth.Even a mile would be considered success so ...
- 121
26
votes
2
answers
73k
views
What is the fastest speed ever reached in space travel as measured from the point in space from which it was launched to its current/final position?
Answers.com lists the New Horizons to have the fastest rocket. Is this info still valid? 7 light hours in 11 years at 50,000 km/h?
- 1,110
2
votes
1
answer
127
views
Kinematics help
If a constant acceleration starship started at rest, then accelerated at 25G (245m/s^2) how long would it take to fly an AU (149 597 871 kilometers)? I am a writer, so I have no experience with ...
- 21
10
votes
3
answers
3k
views
If the Alcubierre Warp Drive was used to travel to Alpha Centauri, how much time would pass on Earth?
If the Alcubierre Warp Drive was used to travel to Alpha Centauri, how much time would pass on Earth? Per this article, it would take merely days to travel there. Say a ship travels there, spends a ...
- 101
12
votes
1
answer
1k
views
How many companies are active in commercial space exploration [closed]
One of my dreams is to go into space. I believe that humanity is headed in such a direction that before I die (in the next 60-80 years) I should be able to pay for a ticket into orbit, or even to the ...
- 1,295
9
votes
1
answer
739
views
How serious is a contagion in space flight?
Today I was playing Alien: Isolation and saw a poster regarding lice and how you ought to get checked to reduce the risk of spreading it. (I give you this context to let you know that I am generally ...
- 1,295
13
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Are there any proposals for a permanent orbital interplanetary ferry?
I believe I read in a book once a description of a kind of interplanetary ferry that would orbit the sun and regularly pass different planets like Mars and Earth. The idea of the ferry is to have a ...
18
votes
1
answer
7k
views
Who has been the closest to/furthest from the Sun?
Google couldn't find the answer for me.
Technically this is two very closely related questions.
Since no person has yet been much further from the Earth than the far side of the Moon I was wondering ...
- 653
6
votes
3
answers
3k
views
Space travel: Is there an speed limit lower than speed of light?
Propulsion exhaust speed is lower than speed of light, I think and if it is so, than how could spaceship go faster that exhaust speed? Right? So exhaust speed is a maximum speed for spaceship? (If ...
- 331
0
votes
1
answer
682
views
how much does time slow down with gravitational time dilation, on a black hole with these graph trajectories.? [closed]
How much does time slow down with gravitational time dilation, on a black hole with these graph trajectories.?
If you watch a journey into a black hole on Youtube before reading this question, it ...
- 21
7
votes
3
answers
1k
views
Maybe I can't really reach the speed of light, but how close could I get?
Let's say I build a ship, get in it and take off into the dark. When I leave Earth, I measure my acceleration at 1g and my ship is capable of producing that level of power indefinitely. There will be ...
- 71
4
votes
1
answer
247
views
Combating negative effects of space
After seeing this article about a skin-tight space suit, I was wondering what were the different ways of combating the negative effect of being in space, e.g. artificial gravity? How far away are ...
- 1,093
-1
votes
3
answers
23k
views
How would one go about proving humans have really been to outer space?
Background: I am 40 years old, and in my entire life the only face to face eyewitness event that I can remember where humans actually observed an attempt to fly into outer space, the craft exploded ...
- 219
4
votes
1
answer
4k
views
Do we have motion sickness in zero gravity? [duplicate]
In zero gravity, the vestibular system (which is responsible for feeling the balance) doesn't work since the fluids in it don't move properly in absent of significant gravitational force. Does it also ...
- 5,241
15
votes
3
answers
2k
views
Horizontal space launch
Space ships are always launched vertically. Its reason is pretty obvious: vertical launch has the lowest distance between the desired height and surface.
However, would horizantal launch be worth to ...
- 5,241