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A Gentle Push
All the Way to the Stars |
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 The force of the ion propulsion system that the Deep Space 1 uses is so small, that the push it gives the spacecraft is like the weight of a single piece of notebook paper resting in your hand. |
 The Deep Space 1 spacecraft gets fantastically high "gas mileage," but it accelerates very very gently. To go from 0 to 100 kilometers per hour (about the same as 60 miles per hour) would take Deep Space 1 two and one-half days!Only four days after it was launched, Deep Space 1 was about 1,000,000 kilometers (about 600,000 miles) from Earth, and it continued moving away. (That is more than twice as far as the moon.) How long would it take you to go 1,000,000 kilometers? |
 To walk that far, you would have to walk for 8 hours every day of the week, every week of the year, for your whole life! |
 To drive that far at the top speed allowed on highways in the United States, you would have to drive 24 hours a day (without stopping for gas, food, going to the bathroom, or stretching your legs), every day for a year-- and then you would still have to drive for another month! |
 To fly that far in a jet, you would have to fly for 6 weeks without stopping! |
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