How long does it take to fly to the Moon? A real astronaut's perspective.

As a person who has dreamed of space since childhood, I often wonder - how long does it really take to get to our eternal companion? This silver beauty hanging in the night sky seems so close, but in reality... Oh, it's not so easy to reach her!

The Moon hangs about 384,000 km away from us. And you know what? The flight time there depends on a hell of a lot of factors! Sometimes it's funny to think that scientists with their precise calculations sometimes can't give a specific answer.

On average, the flight takes about three days - it was the same with the "Apollo" missions. I remember how Neil Armstrong and his team toiled in their capsule for a whole 109 hours before stepping onto the lunar surface! And this mission was considered the most advanced for its time.

And the probe "New Horizons" - this clever little one flew past the Moon in just 9 hours! What a speed! But it just zoomed by without slowing down, and that's a completely different story.

The funniest thing is that modern devices sometimes take MORE time than in the 60s! Take the CubeSat CAPSTONE for example - this little one took as long as 4.5 months to crawl to lunar orbit! But it was fuel savings - it flew during gravitational maneuvers like a student on their last pennies.

The Israeli "Beresheet" also didn't rush - it spent six weeks orbiting the Earth, gaining speed, and then... bang! It crashed into the surface of the Moon, scattering tardigrades. Not the most successful delivery!

Fuel is a whole separate pain. 60-90% of the ship's mass is just fuel! Can you imagine? It's like flying on a gas station with a passenger seat.

So if someone tells you that you can fly to the Moon in a specific amount of time - don't believe it. It all depends on what kind of ship, how much fuel, what trajectory, and most importantly - why you are going there at all. If you just want to fly by and wave hello - 9 hours will be enough. But if you plan to land on the Moon comfortably - be prepared for at least three days.

And yes, I am sure that someday we will learn to do this faster. Although, maybe we shouldn't rush? The cosmos doesn't like haste.