Question: how many years does it take to get to space and back?
Answer: NASA launch director Mike Leinbach said: “It takes the shuttle approximately 8-1/2 minutes to get to orbit. “And if you think about it, we're accelerating a 4-1/2 million pound system from zero miles per hour to its orbital velocity of 17,500 miles per hour in those 8-1/2 minutes.