Journey to the Moon: Thoughts of a Amateur Astronaut

Have you ever wondered how long it will take to reach that silver orb in the sky? I often gaze at the Moon at night and dream... But it's a damn complicated question!

The distance between us and that stone block is approximately 384,400 km. And here's what I'll say - the flight time varies insanely: from some 8 hours to damn 4.5 months! It all depends on a bunch of factors that these smart engineers have to take into account.

The speed record holder is the probe "New Horizons", which reached the Moon in 8 hours and 35 minutes after launch. But its main goal was Pluto; the Moon was just on the way. When it comes to a targeted flight, everything is much more complicated.

The Soviet spacecraft "Luna-1" spent 34 hours in 1959 to reach its target. Although, to be honest, they messed up – instead of the planned collision with the surface, they flew past it by 6 thousand kilometers! Now this piece of scrap metal is forever floating somewhere in space.

Do you remember the famous "Apollo 11"? Armstrong and his team took almost 110 hours from launch to that historic step. Can't it be done faster? It can, but it all comes down to fuel!

An amusing paradox: the less fuel you use, the longer it takes to fly. But it's cheaper! The Israelis, for example, with their "Beresheet" saved as much as they could – they flew to the Moon for a whole 48 days. And what happened? In the end, they crashed on its surface, losing connection! At least they delivered thousands of tardigrades to the Moon – tiny creatures capable of surviving in extreme conditions. Can you imagine if those creatures multiply there?

The longest journey to the Moon was made by the little CAPSTONE from NASA – it took the 25-kilogram satellite a whole 4.5 months! It spun around the Earth like a drunk, gaining speed before finally reaching lunar orbit.

Launching any mission is a separate headache. 60-90% of the rocket's weight at launch is just fuel! Then you also need to calculate the optimal trajectory to save precious fuel. And not to mention the size of the ship, the number of crew members, and other nonsense.

So when I look at the Moon, I no longer think "how close". I think "what a complicated journey this is"! And yet, one day I dream of being there...