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 DolphinThe 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, 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, 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!