10 Fastest Manmade Objects

Our greatest achievements

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“Rocket Sled Testing at China Lake (NASA, International Space Station, 03/29/12)” by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.

By: Michael Philipov, Journalist

The 10 fastest manmade objects are some of the most powerful inventions we have ever created, and the way we made them is very interesting.

#10: Rocket Sled – 6,453 mph

The rocket sled reaches massive amounts of acceleration, being able to reach 6,453 mph in a track of just 10,000, having to stop as well within that distance. This acceleration was used to start off missiles, aircraft parts, and emergency rescue parts of aircraft.

NASA x-43
“Boeing NB-52B Stratofortress ‘Balls 8’ cn16498 USAF 52-008 NASA 008 b” by Bill Word is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

#9: NASA X-43 – 7,000 mph

This is an unmanned aircraft designed to go speeds faster than Mach 5, but is capable of going Mach 10. It is the fastest human aircraft.

“#TBT: First Space Shuttle Mission, STS-1, Launches — April 12, 1981” by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.

#8: Space Shuttles – 17,500 mph

These space shuttles are designed to get into a low Earth orbit, and that takes huge amounts of energy. If a space shuttle was to go slower than that, it would most likely not make it into orbit.

 

“Apollo 10 capsule – Science Museum London April 2013” by Olaf_Janssen is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

#7: Apollo 10 capsule – 24,791 mph

Apollo 10 was sent to orbit around the moon and became the fastest manned aircraft. It was to simulate landing on the moon, and the crew consisted Air Force, Marines, and Navy astronauts.

 

“Stardust capsule – Smithsonian Air and Space Museum – 2012-05-15” by Tim Evanson is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

#6: Stardust – 28,856 mph

Stardust was made to catch up to a comet and collect samples to be studied on Earth. Naturally, comets are extremely fast, and we needed something faster to catch up.

 

“New Horizons Heading for Pluto” by FlyingSinger is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

#5: New Horizons – 36,373 mph

New Horizons space probe was sent to study the outer planet Pluto and its Moons. It was launched by NASA in 2006 and was (Insert text here)

“The Solar System from Voyager 1” by NASASolarSystem is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

#4: Voyager 1 – 38,610 mph

Voyager 1, as well as being one of the fastest man-made objects, is the farthest-traveled man-made object as well. And in space, objects accelerate forever until something slows them down, and being launched in 1977, it reached high speeds of 38,610 mph.

“Banner Iron Works Manhole Cover” by pasa47 is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

#3: An iron manhole cover – 125,000 mph

In a nuclear bomb test named Operation Plumbbob, Robert Brownlee was supposed to create something to lessen the amount of nuclear fallout. His idea was a 4-inch iron manhole cover, but he knew it would pop right off. He placed a camera taking a frame every millisecond at the manhole (from a side view) and the manhole cover only appeared in 1 frame. Robert Brownlee used the 1 frame to calculate its speed at 125,000 mph.

 

#2: Helios 1  Space Probe- 142,000 mph

This probe was 1 AU (149597871 kilometers) from the Sun travelling in an elliptical orbit to study the processes of the Sun. It was launched by NASA and German space agency on December 10th, 1974. Helios 1 sent back data until 1982.

#1: Helios 2 Space Probe – 157,078 mph

This probe was also sent to study the Sun, but it orbited 0.29 AU(149597870.7 km) away. It was launched on January 15, 1976, and it reached the Sun’s orbit on April 17th, 1976. It was able to send back data until December 23rd, 1979.

 

Related Articles

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helios_(spacecraft)

https://www.businessinsider.com/fastest-object-robert-brownlee-2016-2

https://themysteriousworld.com/top-10-fastest-man-made-objects-ever/

https://www.wearethemighty.com/tech/the-8-fastest-man-made-objects-ever/