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Picture of the day -
November 13, 2006
The "Speed Limit" Of The International Space Station
Photo courtesy of
NASA.
Today's picture shows what happens when astronauts develop a
sense of humor. Some wiseguy has placed a sign aboard the
International Space Station that reads: "Space Station
Construction: Speed Limit 17500 mph".
The ISS does indeed travel at an amazing 17,500 miles per hour, but
that's just a snail's pace compared to the incredible speed that a
spacecraft would have to attain should we ever try to send human
beings to regions beyond our own solar system. It would literally
take years for a space capsule to reach even the closest
stars, and that's assuming we could somehow manage to travel at a
speed approaching the speed of light (186,000 miles per second)!
Interstellar space travel has long been a dream for us earthlings,
but in order to make that dream a reality we'll have to develop new
technologies that border on the realm of present-day science
fiction, and even then it will likely take many generations of space
pioneers being born, living and dying in flight to their
destination.
In other words, the folks who depart on such a mission probably
won't be the ones who eventually land on another world somewhere
beyond our solar system. It will actually be sort of an interstellar
relay - and it will take some very dedicated souls to volunteer to
start the race.
About the photo: A "Speed Limit" sign hangs above the head of
Flight Engineer Nikolai Budarin as he works in the Unity node of the
International Space Station during ISS Expedition 6.
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