Scientist May Have Found a Shortcut to Mars

Relying on optimal planetary alignment, NASA estimates a roundtrip to Mars would take two to three years. Now, a new study argues that using orbital data from asteroids, rather than planets, could shave years off the trip, potentially cutting total mission time to about five months. Instead of relying solely on the well-mapped dance of planets, Brazilian researcher Marcelo de Oliveira Souza examined the predicted early path of asteroid 2001 CA21, whose initial trajectory appeared to intersect the orbits of both Earth and Mars, per Phys.org. By looking for Mars routes that stayed within five degrees of that asteroid's orbital tilt and timing them with Mars' close passes to Earth, he tested opportunities in 2027, 2029, and 2031.

Only 2031 produced an Earth–Mars–Earth configuration that fit the asteroid-linked plane and allowed a sub-year round trip. In fact, Souza toyed with two 2031 missions that would wrap up in 153 and 226 days, Earth.com reports, with the longer option being the most feasible. His scenarios include options for an outbound journey of as little as 33 days and a return journey of as little as 90 days, per WION. He's not saying a Mars trip should happen based on these scenarios, or even 2001 CA21's specific path. Rather, his study, published in Acta Astronautica, suggests using early small-body orbits as a new screening tool to spot quicker, fuel-efficient interplanetary routes that standard planning might overlook.