Speeding Through the Solar System
It is difficult to visualize the great distances of planets in the Solar System from Earth. If we calculate
the time it would take to travel to the moon and the planets by walking, taking a car and a jet plane,
we will better understand the concerns of interplanetary travel.
Travel Time in Earth Years From Earth
Solar System
Object
Moon
Mercury
Venus
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
Pluto
Walking
3.6 kmph
11
2588
1175
2222
17,843
36,421
76,894
123,579
162,622
Car
80 kmph
.6
133
61
113
909
1848
3935
6289
8378
Jet
1436 kmph
.03
7
3
6
46
92
194
313
410
Worksheet adapted from a worksheet in Out Of This World by AIMS Education Foundation, Fresno, 1994.
Name _______________________________________________
Date ___________________
Age Today in Years ________ and Months ________
Space Travel at 40,000 km per Hour
Average
Distance
From
Earth
384,000
km
92,000,000 km
41,000,000 km
78,000,000 km
629,000,000
km
1,227,000,000
km
2,721,000,000
km
4,347,000,000
km
5,750,000,000
km
Solar
System
Object
Hours
Days
Months
Years
Distance
40,000
Hours
24
Days
30
Month
12
(to nearest
hour)
(to nearest
day)
(to nearest
month)
Years
Months
Arrival Age
Years +
Your Age
Years
Moon
Mercury
Venus
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
Pluto
Worksheet adapted from a worksheet in Out Of This World by AIMS Education Foundation, Fresno, 1994.
Months
Name _______________________________________________
Date ___________________
Speedy Get It There Company
You work for the Speedy Get It There Company. How much time will it take to make deliveries to
different locations in the Solar System and return to Earth? You must return to Earth to refuel
before making the next delivery because the planets are not lined up in a straight line in their orbits
around the sun. Include in your time the return trip to Earth.
1. Take scientific probes to Jupiter and Mercury.
Travel time ______________________
2. Take sub sandwiches to Venus and Mars.
Travel time ______________________
3. Your trip takes around 7 years and 6 months. You went to one outer planet, back to Earth,
then one inner planet, and finally you returned to Earth. Which planets did you visit?
Planets _________________________ _________________________
4.
Start at Neptune. Go to Earth. Then deliver office supplies to Mars.
Travel time ______________________
5.
Make up your own trip to two planets. Be sure to stop at Earth between the planets.
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
Travel time ______________________
6. Share your trip with another student and have them solve your trip and you solve their trip.
Other student _______________________________________________
Name _______________________________________________
Date ___________________
How Long Will It Take To Make a Call?
Worksheet adapted from a worksheet in Out Of This World by AIMS Education Foundation, Fresno, 1994.
Even though travel to the out edges of the Solar System is currently not possible, space communication
is. Space probes like, Voyager 2, receive commands from Earth and send information back from the
outer edges of the Solar System. Radio waves travel at the speed of light, 299,739 kilometers per
second. Use the formulas below to compute how long it will take for your “call” to reach the moon
and each of the planets
Destination
of
Call
Average
Distance from
Earth in km
Moon
384,000
Mercury
92,000,000
Venus
41,000,000
Mars
78,000,000
Jupiter
629,000,000
Saturn
1,277,000,000
Uranus
2,721,000,000
Neptune
4,347,000,000
Pluto
5,750,000,000
Seconds
Minutes
Hours
distance
rate
(÷300,000)
seconds
60
(÷60)
minutes
60
(÷60)
Name _______________________________________________
Date ___________________
Do You Hear Me Now?
Worksheet adapted from a worksheet in Out Of This World by AIMS Education Foundation, Fresno, 1994.
Announcement
You must send the following announcement to the Space Stations on the moon and the planets and
receive their answers. Calculate how long each set of transmissions will take using the transmission
times on “How Long Will It Take to Make a Call?”
1. Earth to _________________________. Do you read me?
2. _________________________ to Earth. You are coming in loud and clear.
3. All Space Stations must tune in to Channel ESSI 101 on Monday, 10:00 A.M. Solar Standard
Time.
4. What’s the reason?
5. The Commander-In-Chief of the Solar Federation will be speaking.
6. Roger, Earth, we’ll be listening. This is _________________________ over and out.
With your group, use the “How Long Will It Take to Make a Call?” worksheet. Calculate the time
it will take to complete the above transmission set (all six of the statements) to the moon and
each of the planets. How much of this transmission can be sent and received in your school day?
Create your own set of statements. Send and receive statements in the set to and from the
moon and each of the planets. How long will it take to complete them?
Worksheet adapted from a worksheet in Out Of This World by AIMS Education Foundation, Fresno, 1994.
Name _______________________________________________
Date ________________________
Use the data from the “How Long Will It Take to Make a Call?” worksheet
to compute the total transmission time for your announcement.
Do You Hear Me Now? - Time to Transmit...
Solar
System
Object
Moon
One Way
Transmission
Time from Earth
X
Number
of
Transmissions
Total
Transmission
Time
=
Minute:
Seconds:
Hours:
Mercury
Minutes:
Hours:
Venus
Mars
Jupiter
Minutes:
Hours:
Minutes:
Hours:
Minutes:
Hours:
Saturn
Minutes:
Hours:
Uranus
Minutes:
Hours:
Neptune
Pluto
Time at Completed
Transmission
(Day)
(Time)
Minutes:
Hours:
Minutes:
Worksheet adapted from a worksheet in Out Of This World by AIMS Education Foundation, Fresno, 1994.
If you began transmitting
on Thursday at 8:00
A.M., what day and time
would you finish?
Worksheet adapted from a worksheet in Out Of This World by AIMS Education Foundation, Fresno, 1994.