Speed

Average speed = distance/ time

Cheetah• Fastest Land

Animal in the world.

• One was measured at 63 mi/hr.

• It is probable that speeds up to 70 mi/hr are possible.

• Cannot run at this speed for more than 1/4 mile.

Pronghorn Antelope

• Fastest animal in North America (top speed of 55 mi/hr).

• Can run at speeds of 42 mph for up to 2 miles.

• Has the largest heart for its size of any North American mammal.

Fastest Marine mammal

• The Killer Whale has been measured at speeds up to 34 mi/hr.• Several species of dolphins and porpoises are also thought to be as

fast or faster.

Males - 20 – 30 feet long, 12,000 lbs.

Record male 32 feet long, 17, 636 lbs.

Killer Whale

Right Whale Dolphin• The Right Whale dolphin lacks a dorsal fin.

• It is a pelagic species (open ocean) so little is known of its behavior.

• It can reach speeds close to 40 mph.

Fastest Fish

• The Sailfish is the fastest fish at a measured speed of 68 mph!

• Swordfish, marlin and Yellowfin Tuna are other very fast fish.

Fastest Bird• The Peregrine

falcon can dive at a speed approaching 200 mph.

• They need this diving speed to catch up with the birds that they prey upon.

Ducks• This is a Shoveler.

• Like many ducks they have been clocked at 60 mph.

• They can maintain such speeds for miles.

Wright Flyer• Maximum speed in the Military model was 45 miles/hour!!

• This is a picture of Orville Wright demonstrating the Wright flyer for the US Army at Fort Myer, Virginia in 1908.

Cessna 172

• Very common civilian aircraft.

• Cruises at about 100 mph.

• Maximum allowable speed 150 mph.

Lockheed P-38 Lightning• 1939 design was the first US aircraft to break 400 miles/hr in level flight.

• 10,000 were built during WW II.

• 6 flyable examples exist today.

P-47 Thunderbolt• Fastest WW II US fighter.

• Achieved a speed of 505 miles/hr at 25,000 ft in 1945

• Was powered by a 2,500 hp engine.

• 12,000 built during WW II.

• About 9 still flying today

Fastest Propeller Aircraft• Rare Bear, a modified WWII fighter aircraft was measured at a speed of 529 mi/hr in level flight.

• Rare Bear won last years Reno Air Race at an average speed of 488 mph.

• It has a modified 4,000 hp engine.

• Rare Bear low pass

Passenger Jets

• This Boeing 727 can carry 200 people at high altitudes.

• They cruise at around 530 mph.

• Because they fly so high, they are above most of the wind and weather to be found closer to the earth’s surface.

Airbus 380

• Largest air liner in the world

• Can hold from 525 to 852 people.

• Cruises at 560 mph.

Lockheed F - 16• The F - 16 is

one of the main fighter aircraft of the United States and several other countries of the world.

• It has a top speed of nearly 1,800 mph

• It uses its radar to find and attack other aircraft before they can be seen visually!

• Sonic Boom

Fastest Jet Aircraft• USAF SR-71 recon aircraft was measured at 2,194 mi/hr

• This jet usually flew above 55,000 ft.

• It was retired from active duty in 1995.

Fastest Rocket Aircraft• The X-15

was the fastest rocket aircraft

• It attained a speed of 4,520 mph (1967) at an altitude of 354,000 ft.

Space Shuttle

• The Space Shuttle reaches speeds of 17,000 mph as it enters low earth orbit.

• It does not have sufficient speed to escape the earth’s gravity and rocket to the moon.

• shuttle launch

Apollo Moon Rockets

• For a long time this was the fastest man-made vehicle.

• These rockets attained speeds of 25,000 mph

• This speed was necessary for the spacecraft to escape the earth’s gravity.

• Apollo 11 Launch

Atlas V Rocket

• The Atlas V Rocket is the fastest Rocket in the US inventory.

• It can travel at 8 mi/sec

• This is the same as 28,800 miles/hour.

• This is the rocket that will be used to launch the space probe to Pluto.

Ulysses Spacecraft• The Shuttle Discovery launched the Ulysses spacecraft on October 6, 1990.

• It reached Jupiter on Feb. 8, 1992

• Ulysses was sent toward the sun to use its gravitational field to increase its speed.

• This “slingshot” effect increased Ulysses’ speed to about 100,000 mph.

• Ulysses is still operational and sending back data today!

New Horizons• New Horizons is a mission

designed to fly by Pluto and its moon Charon and transmit images and data back to Earth.

• It was launched in January, 2006.

• It was boosted into space by an Atlas V rocket.

• The rocket had extra strap-on solid-fuel boosters.

• The spacecraft will slingshot around the sun.

• This slingshot around the Sun will increase the spacecraft’s speed to 130,000 mph.

• It will still take it 9 years to reach Pluto!

Planet Mercury

• The closer a planet is to the Sun the faster it goes.

• Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun. (36,000,000 miles)

• It takes the planet 88 days to orbit the Sun.

• Its speed is 53,522.7 mph.

Andromeda Galaxy

• Largest Galaxy of the Local Group.

• The Milky Way and the Andromeda Galaxy are approaching each other at a speed of 300,000 miles/hr.

Light

• Light travels at a speed of 186,000 miles/sec

• That is 300,000 km/sec!

• That would be 7.5 times around the earth in 1 sec.

Starship Enterprise

• This craft could do warp 12!• That is 12 times the speed of

light!