July 17, 2015 at 13:16The fastest spaceships, real and fictional
Employees of the publication FatWallet have compiled a list of "the fastest spaceships in the universe." These are ships from science fiction films, books, computer games and science fiction series.
Among the sources of information - Wikipedia and dozens of other pages that mention the speed of a ship. For objectivity, the table includes former and existing NASA devices.
Rating is sorted from slowest to fastest. The first half of the table contains ships that move at a speed lower than the speed of light. For them, the maximum possible vehicle acceleration in units of G (1 G = 9.8 m / s 2 ) is used as a scale .
In the second half - normal ships flying at a relativistic speed. Their speed is indicated in units of C (speed of light).
Humanity came closest to the speed of light in the late 1950s, when it was planned to develop a spacecraft with an atomic engine, known as Project Orion. It was assumed that its maximum speed will be 10,000 km / s, that is, 3.3% of the speed of light. However, in 1963, the Treaty was signed on the prohibition of testing nuclear weapons in the atmosphere, outer space and under water between the USSR, the USA and Great Britain. Aimed at slowing down the arms race and preventing excessive releases of radioactive substances into the atmosphere, this treaty put an end to the Orion project.
Currently, the fastest spacecraft in the history of mankind is considered to be the Saturn V rocket, which was able to accelerate at a speed of 64,500 km / h, according to the compilers of the rating.
Among the sources of information - Wikipedia and dozens of other pages that mention the speed of a ship. For objectivity, the table includes former and existing NASA devices.
Rating is sorted from slowest to fastest. The first half of the table contains ships that move at a speed lower than the speed of light. For them, the maximum possible vehicle acceleration in units of G (1 G = 9.8 m / s 2 ) is used as a scale .
In the second half - normal ships flying at a relativistic speed. Their speed is indicated in units of C (speed of light).
Humanity came closest to the speed of light in the late 1950s, when it was planned to develop a spacecraft with an atomic engine, known as Project Orion. It was assumed that its maximum speed will be 10,000 km / s, that is, 3.3% of the speed of light. However, in 1963, the Treaty was signed on the prohibition of testing nuclear weapons in the atmosphere, outer space and under water between the USSR, the USA and Great Britain. Aimed at slowing down the arms race and preventing excessive releases of radioactive substances into the atmosphere, this treaty put an end to the Orion project.
Currently, the fastest spacecraft in the history of mankind is considered to be the Saturn V rocket, which was able to accelerate at a speed of 64,500 km / h, according to the compilers of the rating.