Mars

As you have no doubt heard in the news, right now, Mars is the closet to planet Earth that it has ever been in 60 000 years. Like I mentioned in one of my earliest blogs, I like to calculate useless things. The distance, at its very closest was 55,757,930 km. I wanted to know how long it would take me to drive to Mars at 100 km/h. I calculated that it would take 64 years to get to Mars if I were to travel at the given speed when the two planets are at minimum distance. I can only imagine how long the trip would be during the other 59 999 years.

I wrote this to my aunt, to which she responded:

By the way - your calculations are correct. It would take 64
years at 100 km
per hour. So you should move to Alberta, where the speed limit
is 110 km/hr,
and save yourself approx. 5 years :)))!!!

But as I am writing this, I realise that we both failed to take into account that the gap is getting bigger all the time. In 20 years there will be a significant difference from the minimum distance. Since the distance is increasing (I assume at a constant rate) It looks like we are in need of some calculus. Too bad it's summer, and I'm not that much of a geek to care. The point is, that it would take much, much, much longer than 64 years to reach Mars at 100 km/h.

Today's lesson: Don't drive to Mars, or else you'll die.