Record Holders

The Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird holds the official world airspeed record. On July 28, 1976, it flew 2,188 miles per hour (3,530 kilometers per hour) near Beale Air Force Base in California, with Eldon W. Joersz at the controls.

Other aircraft have gone faster than the Blackbird, but they do not qualify for the official world airspeed record because they cannot take off and land under their own power. In 1967, the X-15 rocket plane reached a top speed of 4,520 miles per hour (about 7,270 kilo­meters per hour), or Mach 6.7. It is the fastest manned aircraft that has ever flown, but it is launched in midair from beneath the wing of a B-52 bomber.

A spacecraft has to be boosted to a speed of about 17,500 miles per hour (28,000 kilometers per hour) to go into low Earth orbit. The highest speed ever attained by a manned space­craft is 24,791 miles per hour (39,900 kilometers per hour). The Apollo 10 spacecraft reached this speed during its return from the Moon in 1969. The fastest space probe, and also the fastest human – made object of any kind, was the Helios 2 solar space probe. It reached a speed of 157,000 miles per hour (252,700 kilometers per hour) in the 1970s.

SEE ALSO:

• Supersonic Flight • Velocity