The Fastest Things Ever Made
Humans have always had a fixation with speed. Both man and their machines have been steadily getting faster and faster as the years pass, all culminating in the pinnacle of air, land, and sea.
The fastest aerial vehicle ever created was NASA’s X-43. This vehicle had a staggering speed of Mach 9.6, which is roughly 7,300 miles per hour or 12000 kilometers per hour. This Jet intentionally crashed into the ocean after it flew at top speed for 10 seconds. All future plans for X-43 type jets were canceled or suspended, and replaced by another program that is prioritizing duration over speed.
The fastest terrestrial vehicle ever created was the ThrustSSC, a British jet car that has held the world land speed record since 1997. This car could go at speeds of 763 mph or 1,228 km/h. The Car itself weighs 10 tons and had 2 giant jet engines attached to it that provided 50,000 pounds of force.
The fastest aquatic vehicle on record is the Spirit of Australia speedboat. This boat could go at a peak speed of 3445 mph or 555 km/h. This record was set way back in 1978, so it is almost certain that another faster boat could be made if someone really wanted to.
To conclude, let’s take a look at something humans made that went faster than all of these vehicles combined. This object is none other than a manhole cover. Yes, you did read that correctly, a manhole cover. During nuclear testing, a bomb was detonated underground and a manhole cover was placed over the blast site. The speed of the manhole cover as it got blown away was measured and it came out to 125,000 miles per hour. People expect that the manhole cover may have ended up in space, never touching the earth since that day in the 1950s.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA_X-43
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ThrustSSC
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirit_of_Australia
