Jakarta, ThedailyID — A Brazilian cosmologist has discovered a method that could cut a round-trip journey between Earth and Mars to just 153 days. The finding could reshape how scientists approach interplanetary travel.
The study, published in Acta Astronautica, proposes a route far shorter than current missions. Conventional missions can take nearly three years for a full round trip.
With today’s technology, a one-way journey to Mars takes seven to ten months. Astronauts must then wait for the right alignment before returning. Earth and Mars align efficiently only once every 26 months, which extends mission timelines.
Marcelo de Oliveira Souza from State University of Northern Rio de Janeiro led the study. He said the discovery happened by accident while analyzing asteroid trajectories.
He initially studied an asteroid called 2001 CA21 in 2015. While reviewing discarded data, he noticed geometric patterns that could enable faster interplanetary routes.
“This surprised me, I was not looking for this,” Souza said. He then applied a method called Lambert analysis to calculate the trajectory.
The model limits spacecraft movement to follow the asteroid’s orbital inclination. As a result, it creates a more efficient path between planets.
Souza analyzed three Mars launch windows: 2027, 2029, and 2031. Among them, only 2031 appears feasible with near-future technology.
In that scenario, a spacecraft would launch on April 20, 2031. It would travel at around 27 kilometers per second and reach Mars in 33 days.
The mission would then spend about 30 days on Mars. After that, the spacecraft would return to Earth and land on September 20. In total, the round trip would take 153 days.
The study also outlines an alternative route. This version requires a lower speed of about 16.5 kilometers per second and takes around 226 days.
That speed is comparable to New Horizons, one of the fastest spacecraft ever launched. NASA sent New Horizons in 2006 for a flyby mission to Pluto.
However, the fastest scenario remains beyond current capabilities. No existing rocket can reach speeds of 27 kilometers per second.
Souza pointed to next-generation rockets like SpaceX Starship and Blue Origin New Glenn as possible solutions. Even so, the concept still requires further development before real-world use.
