A one-way trip to Mars takes somewhere between seven and 10 months, following a fairly direct route between Earth and our neighboring planet. But what if we could cut that journey by more than half, reaching the Red Planet and returning back to Earth in less than a year? Using the early orbital data of asteroids, an astronomer may have found the ultimate spacecraft shortcut through the solar system. In a new study , Marcelo de Oliveira Souza of the State University of Northern Rio de Janeiro followed the predicted route of asteroid 2001 CA21 to look for a new path to reach Mars. The results, published in the journal Acta Astronautica, identify a course that would take approximately 153 days for a round trip to the Red Planet and back. Earth to Mars To set a course for Mars, scientists behind interplanetary missions calculate precise data based on the planets’ movements through space. The distance between Earth and Mars is in constant flux due to their orbits.…