A faster trip to Mars
Humans have always wanted to go to Mars, even if there aren’t any real aliens there. The problem is, it takes a really long time to fly to Mars. The red planet is always at least 100 million kilometres away from Earth. At the speed of today’s spaceships, that trip would take 18 months.
Worse yet, once that ship lands, it has no way to take off and fly back home to Earth! So any astronauts on board would be stuck on Mars forever. But that could all change with a new engine being built in Russia, which might be ready to try in 2018. The new nuclear-power-fueled engine will be so strong that a spaceship could fly to Mars in just 6 weeks!
And there’s even better news: Right now we just shoot rockets into the sky, and hope we did the math right to aim them at their landing spot. But the Rosatom rocket could change direction during the trip if needed.
Worse yet, once that ship lands, it has no way to take off and fly back home to Earth! So any astronauts on board would be stuck on Mars forever. But that could all change with a new engine being built in Russia, which might be ready to try in 2018. The new nuclear-power-fueled engine will be so strong that a spaceship could fly to Mars in just 6 weeks!
And there’s even better news: Right now we just shoot rockets into the sky, and hope we did the math right to aim them at their landing spot. But the Rosatom rocket could change direction during the trip if needed.
Questions
Wee ones: If you wanted to visit your Martian friend 7 weeks from now, would the 6-week rocket get you there in time?
Little kids: If you’ve been flying for 4 weeks on the super-fast rocket, in how many weeks will you reach Mars? Bonus: If while flying to Mars you count off the kilometers in tens of millions, what numbers do you say to get to 100 million?
Big kids: If you left now on an 18-month trip to Mars, how many years greater will your age be when you land?
Bonus: If a Mars trip takes just 6 weeks, how much sooner do you arrive compared to 18 months? (Hint if needed: Every 3-month chunk has 13 weeks.)
Little kids: If you’ve been flying for 4 weeks on the super-fast rocket, in how many weeks will you reach Mars? Bonus: If while flying to Mars you count off the kilometers in tens of millions, what numbers do you say to get to 100 million?
Big kids: If you left now on an 18-month trip to Mars, how many years greater will your age be when you land?
Bonus: If a Mars trip takes just 6 weeks, how much sooner do you arrive compared to 18 months? (Hint if needed: Every 3-month chunk has 13 weeks.)
Answers:
Wee ones: Yes! 6 weeks is shorter than 7.
Little kids: In 2 weeks. Bonus: 10 million, then 20 million, 30 million, 40 million, 50 million, 60 million, 70 million, 80 million, 90 million, and finally 100 million kilometres.
Big kids: Different for everyone…if you will have a birthday within the next 6 months, you’ll be 2 years older than your current age. Otherwise, you’ll be just 1 year older. Bonus: 18 months has 6 sets of 13 weeks, so it’s exactly 12 sets of 6 longer, or 72 weeks.
Little kids: In 2 weeks. Bonus: 10 million, then 20 million, 30 million, 40 million, 50 million, 60 million, 70 million, 80 million, 90 million, and finally 100 million kilometres.
Big kids: Different for everyone…if you will have a birthday within the next 6 months, you’ll be 2 years older than your current age. Otherwise, you’ll be just 1 year older. Bonus: 18 months has 6 sets of 13 weeks, so it’s exactly 12 sets of 6 longer, or 72 weeks.