If you could drive a car upwards at 60mph, how long would it take to get to the Moon?

Asked by: Matt B, Glastonbury

Astronomer Fred Hoyle was the first to point out that if you could drive a car upwards at 95km/h (60mph), it would only take about an hour to get into space.

To get to the Moon would take a little longer though, since it’s 400,000km (250,000 miles) away – around 10 times the circumference of the Earth. So it would take as long as driving around the world 10 times – just under six months.

Your only real problem (apart from the lack of air for your lungs and for burning the petrol) would be finding a garage to refuel – and that has a loo!

Read more:

• How old is the ‘Man in the Moon’?
• Why is the Moon moving away from us?

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