Joe is Vanguard's global chief economist and head of Vanguard Investment Strategy Group. He's also a member of the senior portfolio management team in Vanguard Fixed Income Group.
Apollo missions took about three days to reach the moon. But the quickest trip to the moon was the New Horizons probe, which zipped past the moon in just 8 hours 35 minutes on its way to Pluto. However, the spacecraft didn't even slow down or approach lunar orbit. Tidal forces.
How long does it take the Moon to orbit the Earth? The Moon takes about 27 days (27 days, 7 hours, 43 minutes, 11.6 seconds) to go all the way around the Earth and return to its starting position.The Moon's orbit around the Earth is a slightly squashed circle called an ellipse. lunar month is about 29.5 days (29 days, 12 hours, 43 minutes, 11.6 seconds). Why is a Lunar month (29.5 days) longer than the number of days it takes the Moon to orbit the Earth (27.3)? Whilst the Moon is orbiting the Earth, the Earth is constantly moving because it is orbiting the sun.