How many years does it take to go to Saturn?

Answer 1

Completely relative to the speed at which you travel. Saturn is roughly an average of 1.3 billion kilometers from Earth. Since Distance divided by Speed equals Time, You can figure it out with math simply by inputting the speed at which you wish to travel to get the time it will take.

Actually, it's much more complicated than simply saying "X distance / Y speed". Travel in space is not done in a straight line when attempting to go between orbiting objects. Since both Saturn and the Earth are traveling in (nearly) circular orbits, you don't use a sight line. A similar problem here on earth is the concept of a Great Circle route, where the shortest distance between two points on a sphere is NOT a direct straight line.

When calculating the shortest path to Saturn, there are generally two paths of interest: the minimum energy path (i.e. one which requires the least amount of thrust), and the minimum time path. Naturally, both are influenced by the limits of how big we want to build the spacecraft, and how much other design criteria impact the desired speed (e.g. the longer in space, the larger amounts of consumables that a manned craft requires). And, most importantly, the exact position of Earth and Saturn in their orbits.

A German scientist named Walter Hohmann published (in 1925) a mathematical solution to the problem of moving an object between two concentric circular orbits. His solution (now called Hohmann Transfers) are one of the basics of Orbital Mechanics.

Since Saturn and Earth can be considered to be traveling in concentric circle orbits, and Saturn has about 1/3rd the orbital velocity of the Earth (that is, the speed Saturn travels around its orbit is about 1/3 that of the Earth), there are two general paths to travel between the two planets:

1. Launch from Earth and jet "backwards" along the Earth's orbit - that is, travel in the opposite direction of the Earth's orbit, so that your orbital velocity (relative to the Sun, not the Earth) is slower than that of the Earth, but generally faster than that of Saturn. This method is most useful when the Earth has just "passed" Saturn
2. Launch from Earth and jet "forwards", so that your orbital velocity is greater than that of the Earth. This method is most useful when the Earth is "catching up" to Saturn.

In both cases, rather than travel a straight line (as if observed from above the plane of the planet's orbit), the spacecraft follows an arc. Technically, the flight path is one-half of an ellipse, with perihelion at earth at the time of launch, and aphelion at Saturn at the time of landing. The minimum time path generally follows the counter-orbit route, while the minimum time path tends to be the opposite direction.

Using either strategy, there are various exact paths which can be chosen, which have different acceleration and total thrust requirements, which lead to different total flight lengths. The time and energy required by a given path are also critically linked to the position of the Earth and Saturn. That is, the specifics of the path (in terms of time and energy required) vary constantly as the position of the planets change.

Thus, there is not real one answer to your question. It's not like "how long does it take to fly from London to New York", which is relatively invariant for modern jet aircraft.

Using launch times over the next few decades, reasonable minimum time paths for a human-occupied spacecraft (using technology currently available) would be in the 2-3 year range for a path to Saturn.

Answer 2

The amount of time it would take to travel from the Earth to Saturndepends on that orbit sued, and thus on the amount of energy applied to the transport vehicle as it leaves Earth.

Answer 3

Man has never been to Saturn. the farthest we have ever gone is the moon. Although it took 5 years for a Russian satellite to get there.