How long would it take a jet to fly to Jupiter if it were possible?

Answer 1

A commercial jet travels more or less 1000 km/hr. Jupiter is, round numbers, 5 A.U. away, or 5*150e6 km. Time = distance/rate, so time = 750e6 km /1e3 km/hr = 750,000 hours. To the level of accuracy we're dealing with here, a year is close enough to 7500 hours, so it would take about 100 years to get from here to Jupiter at commercial jet speeds. Your luggage, however... The numbers are incorrect and need a complete reworking. Jupiter's position from earth varies from a maximum of about 6 A.U to a minimum of about 4 A.U. That means the closest Jupiter gets to earth is about the 4 A.U. That's problem one. But there is another problem. When Jupiter and Earth are closest and the jet leaves earth, the planets keep moving. The planets aren't stationary, remember? And if the jet flies "at" Jupiter, Jupiter won't be "there" when the jet arrives where it was aimed. What this leads to is a demand for an "optimal path of travel" for the given craft accounting for its (low) speed and the dynamics of the moving planets. That path will be a curve that will arc out from earth to where Jupiter "will be" when the jet arrives. It's gonna be a loooong curve. Did you get a passing grade in astrophysics? It will certainly take a long, long time. But then there's the issue of jets not being able to operate in space because the control surfaces won't work where there isn't any air. ::wink, wink::so maybe you could take a surtine amount of days but no one nose for shure