How would you calculate the trip time for travel
from Earth to Mars and back?
Rocket Flight
You will need characteristic velocities for various
maneuvers.
-exit of Earth orbit -additional velocity to reach Mars
orbit -additional velocity to remain in Mars orbit -entrance to low Mars
orbit
Assumptions:
-all orbits lie in the same plane -orbits are circular (planetary and
satellite orbits) -there is elliptical, hyperbolic and parabolic
motion -escaping gravity (equations follow from Newton's Laws)
Needed Constant:
LEO to escape: (Sqrt[2] -1) Sqrt[(GM/R)]~ 2.8
km/sec
