2007-09-16 10:07:56 · 7 answers · asked by scott 3 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
Depends on the medium you are travelling through.
If its in Earths atmosphere then its limited because the wind resistance at extreme speed can kill.
Its as little as a few hundred miles per hour at sea level.
If we could survive in the vacuum of space without protection then we could travel at pretty much any speed. As long as the acceleration is less then 9g's then there will be no long term effects.
Its acceleration that kills, not raw speed unless its in a thick medium.
2007-09-17 02:58:14 · answer #1 · answered by futuretopgun101 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Unprotected from what?
You can leap off a bicycle at 40 km/h and not hurt yourself.
I wouldn't want to eject from an airplane at speeds faster than about 400 km/h without eye protection, and I'd sure want to have a parachute.
You would probably survive for a few seconds travelling at near lightspeed in a vacuum, and could live to tell the tale if you were rescued.
2007-09-16 17:42:42 · answer #2 · answered by cosmo 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Speed is undetectable without looking out the window. Right now, you are traveling at 220 km/s around the Milky Way, and you feel nothing as a result.
What kills you is acceleration. An average human blacks out at around 6g.
2007-09-16 17:18:38 · answer #3 · answered by ZikZak 6 · 3⤊ 0⤋
The tests stopped at 35Gs. That's 1,000 mph to zero in less than a second.
http://www.afa.org/magazine/valor/0583valor.asp
2007-09-16 21:27:36 · answer #4 · answered by gregory_dittman 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A fraction short of Lightspeed.
You didn't specify whether the traveller had to survive.
:~}
2007-09-16 17:11:06 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Unprotected from what?
2007-09-16 19:37:11 · answer #6 · answered by Irv S 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
without a g-suit about 3,000 mph.
2007-09-16 17:23:58 · answer #7 · answered by herr fugelmeister 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋