Summary

Description	Judy from Athol: On August 27, the Earth will be as close to Mars as it ever gets. Earth will not be this close again until the year 2287. How much travel time will this save compared to other launches? Also, and will the pictures sent be clearer because of its nearness? Okay, well, in terms of the last part of the question, will be pictures be clearer? No, not really, because we don't really take pictures until we get to Mars. So the fact that Mars starts out being close to the Earth doesn't really help us. If we were taking images of Mars on our way to arriving at the planet it would help us, but since we wait until we get into orbit around Mars, the opposition doesn't really have an effect. Now, in terms of the travel time, the length of time to get to Mars varies from about five to nine months, and our mission is going to take about six months. So opposition helps us, but it's not the only factor that controls how long it takes to get to Mars. So, it helps us, but it doesn't r
Date	2005-08-18
Source	images.nasa.gov

Licensing

Public Domain (US Government Work)