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Traveling between Earth and Mars will require lots of fuel and good timing, if not new rockets, as some experts say. The most fuel-efficient trajectory with today’s rockets occurs when Earth is at a six o’clock position at launch (below) and Mars is at about four o’clock—a juxtaposition that occurs just once every 26 months. The first leg will take 259 days. Come what may on the surface, astronauts must wait on Mars for their launch toward home until Earth is in alignment. Total mission time: 972 days (bottom).
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