Quote:
Originally Posted by GH85Carrera
The distances ffrom here to Mars is just immense. Tacking would make it a really really long return trip. And the trip is only viable at all when the Earth and Mars are on the same side of the sun.
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Not necessarily.
If the sun is emitting ‘wind’ a journey away from the sun is not so hard to imagine. In addition, Mars, like all the other plants, revolve around the sun in very predictable ways. As such, the smart people can come up with a trajectory whereby the space craft can rondayview with Mars, with its back having been to the sun at all times for the entire journey, and at a very precise moment in space and time. With calculators and stuff.
The return trip, as you said, would be a challenge in that the tack would be at such an oblique angle to the source of the wind, it would take a few minutes (time being relative and all).
Other than such a journey forcing us to rethink the origins and composition of the universe (which I can do right now from my couch-for free) why bother?