The fastest ever man-made object

[Gnarly Gnu]

This is a fascinating story.... I'll not give any hints for those that have not heard it before.

 

"Nine times faster than the Space Shuttle, six times faster than the fastest moon rockets. Faster than the Voyager spacecraft, which, having reached over 35000 miles per hour, are now leaving the solar system..."

 

If it's a yarn it's a good one.

 

 

[dutchroll]

"The blast instantly vaporised the entire multi-ton collimator....."

 

"Being such a tough and massive object, most of it would have survived....." (the steel cap on the vaporised massive block of concrete).

 

Well he can't have it both ways I'm afraid. He can't say the massive block of concrete was vaporised but the little steel cap on top of it survived!

 

 

[Ungrounded]

Story is real enough. Dr. Karl recounts this same event in one of his "Great moments in science" books. According to Dr. Karl it was in fact the first man made object with sufficent escape velocity to be launched into deep space.

 

A quick check (Google) tonight shows that reportedly at least one scientist directly involved has doubts:-

 

http://io9.gizmodo.com/no-a-nuclear-explosion-did-not-launch-a-manhole-cover-1715340946

 

Have not researched any further.

 

PS. Better link. Closer to the source:-

 

http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Usa/Tests/Brownlee.html