At an average distance of 238,855 miles, or roughly 30 Earths, the Moon is from Earth.
Be not deceived! In actuality, they are very far apart. On average, the distance to the Moon is 238,855 MILES (384,400 KM). How much distance is that?
30 EARTHS, THAT IS.
Why is the average distance mentioned? The Moon’s distance from Earth isn’t constant, though. There are irregularities in the orbit.
The Moon is 252,088 miles away at its furthest point.
ALMOST 32 EARTHS, THAT IS.
The Moon is 225,623 miles away at its closest. THAT IS CONCERNING EARTHS 28 AND 29.
The Moon appears close because it is so visible to us without the need for a telescope, but keep in mind that it is actually farther away than most people think!
Travel Time to the Moon
Let’s investigate how long it takes to travel from Earth to the Moon.
With today’s rocket technology, a trip to the moon takes roughly three days.
Assuming that the moon is your intended destination, the average travel time using current rocket propulsion is about three days.
NASA’s New Horizons probe set a record when it passed the moon in 8 hours 35 minutes while traveling to Pluto, making it the fastest nonstop lunar flight.
Apollo 8 remains the fastest crewed lunar flight to date. NASA reports that the spacecraft reached lunar orbit 69 hours and 8 minutes after launch.
The Hohmann-like transfer takes about five days to complete.
The trip to the moon via the Free Return transfers takes about three days.
It took four days, six hours, and forty-five minutes for the crewed Apollo 11 mission—possibly the most well-known—to reach the moon.