• Question: how long does it take to go to all of the planets and then back home ?????

    Asked by DOBBY to Dave, Ed, Guido, Hugh, Stef on 17 Mar 2015.
    • Photo: Ed Rial

      Ed Rial answered on 17 Mar 2015:

      Hi Dobby

      No space probe has been to all eight planets, but Voyager 2 flew by Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. It took 12 years to reach Neptune and I guess it would take about 12 years to come back again! So that’s 24 years. I would guess it would take another couple of years to take in the inner planets too, so my final answer is 26 years.

      I’m not sure a manned spacecraft will ever do that journey!

      Ed

    • Photo: Hugh Harvey

      Hugh Harvey answered on 18 Mar 2015:

      It all depends on how fast you can go – but at the speed of light it would still take ages!

Comments