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How Long Would It Take to Get to Mars?

From the Hourwiz video “Mars. No shortcuts.” · Checked Oct 17, 2026

The short answer: it depends on how fast you go, and on where Mars is. With Mars at its closest, about 34 million miles away, walking would take about 1,300 years and light about 3 minutes (our math). A real spacecraft, NASA's Perseverance rover, took 203 days.

How far is Mars?

At its closest: 54.6 million km, about 34 million miles (NASA).
At its farthest: 401.4 million km, about 249 million miles (NASA).
The distance keeps changing because both planets circle the Sun. We use the two ends of NASA's range, not one “average” number.
Miles are our conversion: 1 mile = 1.609344 km, exactly (NIST).

Our method

Our math. One small Node script we wrote, no outside libraries, run with Node v24.21.0 on Oct 16, 2026 (US time). For each speed it does one sum: time = distance ÷ speed. It rounds to 2 significant figures, always with “about”, in the biggest unit that gives at least 1: years, then days, then hours, then minutes. 1 year = 365.25 days.

What we assume

A straight line. The trip goes straight from Earth to Mars.
A steady speed the whole way: no speeding up, no slowing down.
Mars stands still while you travel.
3 mph for walking is our assumption. The CDC counts 2.5 mph or faster as walking briskly.
65 mph for a car is our assumption: a round US highway speed.
About 575 mph for a passenger jet is a typical cruising speed, not any one airliner's top speed.

None of this is how a real trip works (see the reality check below). It's a “what if” ruler, not a trip plan.

The formulas in our script

miles = km ÷ 1.609344
  closest: 54.6 million km
    = 33,926,867 miles
  farthest: 401.4 million km
    = 249,418,397 miles

hours = miles ÷ mph

light: 299,792,458 m/s
  = 670,616,629 mph

The ladder: Mars at every speed

Our math. Straight line, steady speed, Mars standing still. Both columns use the same speeds; only the distance changes.

Our math: straight-line time to Mars
Speed	Mars at its closest (about 34 million miles)	Mars at its farthest (about 249 million miles)
A brisk walk, 3 mph (our assumption)	about 1,300 years	about 9,500 years
A car on the highway, 65 mph (our assumption)	about 60 years	about 440 years
A passenger jet, about 575 mph (typical cruise)	about 6.7 years	about 49 years
The speed of sound, 761 mph (sea level, average day)	about 5.1 years	about 37 years
Apollo 10, 24,791 mph: the fastest humans have ever gone (May 1969)	about 57 days	about 420 days (1.1 years)
Parker Solar Probe, about 430,000 mph: the fastest spacecraft ever	about 79 hours (3.3 days)	about 24 days
Light, about 186,000 miles per second	about 3 minutes	about 22 minutes

The speed of sound is 761 mph at sea level on an average day (NASA). It's slower higher up.
Apollo 10's record: its crew hit 24,791 mph on the way home from the Moon, in May 1969. NASA says they still hold the record as the fastest humans.
Parker Solar Probe only reaches about 430,000 mph at its closest pass by the Sun (Dec. 24, 2024), and that speed is measured relative to the Sun. We only borrow its speed for the ruler.
Light moves at 299,792,458 meters per second, exactly: about 670.6 million mph (NIST; mph is our conversion).

Our math: even at the fastest speed humans have ever flown, the straight-line trip would take about 57 days at Mars's closest. Real missions take about 7 months.

The reality check: how long a real trip takes

NASA's Perseverance rover launched July 30, 2020, and landed on Mars Feb. 18, 2021: a 203-day trip, almost 7 months (NASA).
It flew 293 million miles (472 million km) to get there (NASA). That's much farther than the 34 million miles between the planets at their closest (our comparison).
Why so far? Spacecraft don't fly in a straight line. They loop around the Sun on a curved path that starts at Earth's orbit and ends at Mars's orbit, and they launch at the right time so Mars will be there when they arrive (NASA/JPL).
You can't leave any day you like. The cheapest launch window to Mars comes about every 25 months, so about every 2 years (NASA/JPL).

Our take: speed isn't the real problem. The hard part is chasing a moving planet around the Sun.

Calling Mars: the radio delay

A radio message takes about 3 to 22 minutes to reach Mars, one way, depending on where the planets are (our math). Radio travels at the speed of light.
At Mars's closest: 54.6 million km ÷ the speed of light = 182.1 seconds, about 3 minutes.
At Mars's farthest: 401.4 million km ÷ the speed of light = 1,338.9 seconds, about 22 minutes.

Download our math

The script's run log (.txt, 2 KB): its own printout: every speed, at Mars's closest and farthest, in hours, days and years.

The last column in the file points to our internal fact-check rows; the sources for each one are listed below.

Sources

Every fact on this page comes from these pages, opened on Oct 17, 2026. Things change: check the live page before you rely on it.

NASA NSSDC, Mars fact sheet (David R. Williams) Distance from Earth: minimum 54.6 million km, maximum 401.4 million km.
NIST, SI units: length The inch is exactly 25.4 mm, so 1 mile = 1.609344 km.
CDC, measuring physical activity intensity Walking briskly: 2.5 miles per hour or faster.
Sara Nelson (NASA Iowa Space Grant Consortium), via Iowa State University and The Conversation (Oct 2, 2023) A passenger jet cruises at about 575 mph.
NASA Glenn Research Center, Mach number The speed of sound on an average day at sea level is 761 mph.
NASA History, “50 Years Ago: Apollo 10 Clears the Way for the First Moon Landing” 24,791 mph; the fastest humans; splashdown May 26, 1969.
NASA, Heliophysics Big Year Parker Solar Probe: about 430,000 mph at closest approach, Dec. 24, 2024.
Guinness World Records, fastest spacecraft speed Parker Solar Probe, 192.22 km/s relative to the Sun, Dec. 24, 2024.
NIST CODATA, speed of light in vacuum 299,792,458 m/s (exact).
NASA, Mars 2020 Perseverance mission page Launched July 30, 2020; landed Feb. 18, 2021.
NASA news release, “Touchdown! NASA's Mars Perseverance Rover Safely Lands on Red Planet” (Feb 18, 2021) A 203-day journey traversing 293 million miles (472 million km).
NASA/JPL, Basics of Space Flight, chapter 4: interplanetary trajectories The curved transfer path; launch so Mars is there on arrival; a window about every 25 months.

Our ladder is simple arithmetic, rounded as shown: a straight line at a steady speed, with Mars standing still. It isn't a trip plan. NASA, NIST, the CDC and the other sources didn't make, review or endorse this page or the video.

No sponsor and no affiliate links on this page. Vendors are named so you can check them yourself, not as recommendations.

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