question:  How long was the author away from earth on this trip?
context: Illustrated by WOOD My agent was the one who got me the job of going along to write up the first trip to Mars. "It'll be the biggest break a writer ever got," he told me, two days before blastoff. A you-are-there type of report? Trip time is supposed to take 260 days (that's one way), so we're aimed toward where Mars will be (had better be, or else). A pilot, co-pilot, navigator and biochemist. I've met all but the pilot (he's very busy today), and they seem friendly enough. So far, he's still Captain Desmond to me. He was already on board when I got here, with my typewriter and ream of paper, so we didn't meet. The inertial gravities didn't bother me so much as the gyroscopic spin they put on the ship so we have a sort of artificial gravity to hold us against the curved floor. He passed my room on the way to the galley (the kitchen) for a cup of dark brown coffee (they like it thick) and told me that we were almost past the Moon. October 3, 1960 Also, I am one of the first five men in the history of the world to see the opposite side of the Moon, with a bluish blurred crescent beyond it that Pat said was the Earth. The back of the Moon isn't much different from the front. Actually, he explained to me, the screen is supposed to keep the image of space locked into place no matter how much we spin. I told him I hoped it didn't mean we'd land on Mars upside down. He says it may prove to be environmentally accurate, but that I should stick to prose. And only 255 days to go. April 1, 1961 I've skipped over the last 177 days or so, because there's nothing much new. And only 78 days to go. June 1, 1961 Only 17 days to go.
output:  17 months
options:  18 months  17 months  19 months  16 months