Getting to Mars takes a really long time, about 9 months using today's rocket technology. This is because regular rocket engines burn fuel and oxygen together (like a car engine), but they're not very efficient. The fundamental problem is that spacecraft must carry both fuel and oxidiser since there's no air in space to support combustion. This creates a vicious circle: the more fuel you carry to go faster, the heavier your spacecraft becomes, requiring even more fuel to accelerate that extra weight. To go faster, you'd need massive amounts of fuel, making the rockets incredibly expensive and heavy. Current chemical propulsion systems are just about at their theoretical limits, with little room for improvement in efficiency.
Space News & Blog Articles
Tune into the SpaceZE News Network to stay updated on industry news from around the world.
NASA raises the odds that an asteroid could hit the moon in 2032
Asteroid 2024 YR4, once the highest impact risk ever recorded, now poses no threat to Earth but has a slightly increased chance of striking the moon in 2032.
Live coverage: SpaceX to launch fourth commercial Axiom mission to the space station
The four astronauts of Axiom Mission 4 pose together amid a dry dress rehearsal of launch day activities. Left to right: Mission Specialist Tibor Kapu, Pilot Shubhanshu Shukla, Commander Peggy Whitson, Mission Specialists Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski. Image: SpaceX
Update June 9, 7 p.m. EDT: Added comments from SpaceX on the readiness of the Falcon 9 rocket and the latest launch weather outlook
How to see the 'Horse and Rider' in the Big Dipper's handle this summer
Mizar, a star in the Big Dipper's handle, has a tiny companion. This star, Alcor, was known to the ancients. The pair was popularly known as the "Horse and Rider."
Marathon: Release date, trailers & everything we know about Bungie's extraction shooter
Bungie's next game is a return to the Marathon universe, but it's not what fans of the series were expecting. Here's everything we know so far.
SpaceX launches Starlink satellites to orbit on 70th Falcon 9 flight of the year (photos)
SpaceX launched 26 Starlink satellites to orbit from California on Sunday (June 8), on the 70th mission of 2025 for the company's Falcon 9 rocket.
NASA's Top 5 Technical Challenges Countdown: #2: More Power
In this series we are exploring NASA's top five challenges as detailed in its Civil Space Shortfall Ranking, which is basically NASA's Christmas wish list. These are the technologies that NASA believes we need to develop if we want to go to space…and stay there.
Astronomers discover 15 new giant radio galaxies — the largest single objects in the universe
A new batch of 15 Giant Radio Galaxies, the largest of which is 12.4 light-years wide, could help reveal how black holes and galactic mergers help the universe's largest single objects grow so large.
12-mile-tall volcano on Mars punches through clouds | Space photo of the day for June 10, 2025
NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey orbiter captures one of the Red Planet's biggest volcanoes peeking over clouds at dawn.
Golden Dome: An aerospace engineer explains the proposed US-wide missile defense system
In May 2025, President Donald Trump announced a plan to build a missile defense system, called the Golden Dome. How exactly does it work?
There's an infinite amount of energy locked in the vacuum of space-time. Could we ever use it?
Unfortunately, any work you do in the universe will have to be done the old-fashioned way.
Ignis mission: Ready for Lift-Off
Video: 00:02:00
ESA project astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski is heading to the International Space Station on his first mission as part of Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4). He is the second ESA project astronaut from a new generation of Europeans to fly on a commercial human spaceflight mission with Axiom Space.
SpaceX delays launch of private Ax-4 astronauts to ISS to June 11. Here's how to watch it live.
SpaceX will launch four astronauts to the ISS on the private Ax-4 mission Wednesday morning (June 11), and you can watch the action live.
'What a waste:' US scientists decry Trump's 47% cuts to NASA science budget
"I don't think it is an overstatement to say that morale among U.S.-based scientists is at an all-time low."
NASA's Top 5 Technical Challenges Countdown: #3: Better Computers
In this series we are exploring NASA's top five challenges as detailed in its Civil Space Shortfall Ranking, which is basically NASA's Christmas wish list. These are the technologies that NASA believes we need to develop if we want to go to space…and stay there.
NASA's Top 5 Technical Challenges Countdown: #4: Improved Navigation
In this series we're exploring NASA's top five challenges as detailed in its Civil Space Shortfall Ranking, which is basically NASA's Christmas wish list. These are the technologies that NASA believes we need to develop if we want to go to space…and stay there.
Astronauts track huge dust clouds over Canada and US | On the ISS this week June 2-6, 2025
Preparations for the arrival of a visiting crew, the continued study of how humans adapt to microgravity and more highlight the sixth week of Expedition 73 on the International Space Station.
See the moon shine with famous red star Antares in the southern sky on June 9
Antares is a red supergiant star located 400 light-years from Earth.
China's Tianwen 2 spacecraft sends home 1st photo as it heads for mysterious 'quasi-moon' asteroid
China has revealed the first image from its Tianwen 2 asteroid sample return mission, which is now more than 3 million kilometers (1.9 million miles) from Earth.
'In our spacesuit collection for movies, we have replicas of pretty much every historic spacesuit that's been into space.' How the son of an aerospace machinist built some of Hollywood's most iconic astronaut looks (exclusive)
"I've had a number of NASA personnel come up and think that the one that was theirs was ours, and they're shocked."
