A manned spaceflight from Earth to Mars will travel much, much slower than the s

Question

A manned spaceflight from Earth to Mars will travel much, much slower than the speed of light and is likely to require 9 months one way! One liter of water has mass of 1 kilogram (kg), and 1000kg is a ton. Estimate how many kilograms of water are required for each astronaut for drinking, washing, and bathing over 9 months (assume it's not recycled on board). Use any method you like, but justify your reasoning. The entire lunar lander that delivered Apollo astronauts to the surface of the moon had mass of 145 tons. How does this compare to the mass of water that you estimated is required for the Mars-bound astronauts?

Explanation / Answer

water needed for drinking per day = 1.9 litres = 1.9 kg
water neded for washing and bathing astronauts = 28.5 kg
Water needed for 9 months = 30.4*30*9 = 8.208 tonn

mass ratio = 8.208/15 = 0.5472

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