What is the average speed (in MPH) of a space craft/ship/shuttle.
As in, manned ones they launch from earth.
2007-11-28 08:54:12 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
Well, the only manned spacecraft that I know of all go into low Earth orbit, and to do that you need to move at 7814 m/s (or 17,479 miles per hour, as you requested). If you wish to *escape* from the Earth, you need to be moving a bit faster: about 11,186 m/s (25,022 miles per hour). Bon voyage!
2007-11-28 09:00:43 · answer #1 · answered by Lucas C 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Any object, be it manned or unmanned, that goes into earth orbit HAS to travel at around 17,500mph or it will not stay up there, so that's the speed they go.
The only manned exception to this was the Apollo spacecraft, which had to accelerate to 25,000mph in order to get away from Earth and be captured by the Moon's gravity. It only attained that speed for a short time, however, with an average speed much lower, though I do not have the numbers handy for that.
2007-11-28 16:59:52 · answer #2 · answered by Jason T 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
you asked for the average... so the average between the orbital speed and escape speed is 21,250 miles per hour
Space Shuttles go 17,500 mph to orbit the earth, any craft going out of earth's atmosphere has to be going 25,000 mph
2007-11-28 18:03:42 · answer #3 · answered by mcdonaldcj 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
17,500 miles per hour in Earth orbit. To go to the Moon requires 25,000 miles per hour to start, but that speed drops sharply as the space craft fights its way up against Earth's gravity, so that the AVERAGE speed of a lunar trip is only about 3,000 or 4,000 miles per hour.
2007-11-28 16:59:59 · answer #4 · answered by campbelp2002 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
That would be the same as any orbital velocity of Earth, 17,500 mph.
2007-11-28 16:58:33 · answer #5 · answered by Bobby 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
When its sitting at Cape Kennedy, that would be 0 MPH. When taking off, that's a good question.
2007-11-28 16:57:40 · answer #6 · answered by stevedepasto 2 · 0⤊ 4⤋