Glossary of Astronomy Terms. The universe is a large place full of wondrous and unimaginable things. The amateur astronomy hobby contains words, labels, and technical terms that may seem be a little confusing for both beginners and the more experienced hobbyists. This glossary of astronomy terms contains definitions for some of the most common words used in astronomy, cosmology, astrophysics, and space exploration. You may click on any yellow highlighted word to jump directly to the definition for that astronomy word. You can also click on any letter of the alphabet below to jump directly to that section in the astronomy glossary listing.
The lowest energy transfer to Mars is a Hohmann transfer orbit; a mission to Mars using Hohmann transfer involves an approximately 9 month travel time from Earth to Mars, about five hundred days at Mars to wait for the transfer window to Earth, and a Hohmann transfer of about 9 months to return to Earth.
To determine how long it will take to reach Mars, we must first know the distance between the two planets. Mars is the fourth planet from the sun, and the second closest to Earth (Venus is the closest).But the distance between the two planets is constantly changing as they travel around the sun.ere is a list of how long it took several historical missions to reach the red planet. Their launch dates are included for perspective. 1  Mariner 4, the first spacecraft to go to Mars (1964 flyby): 228 days.