最快的人造物体可能是一个时速12.5万英里的核动力井盖

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2019年11月18日

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The Fastest Man-Made Object Might Be A Nuclear-Powered Manhole Cover Which Reached 125,000 MPH

最快的人造物体可能是一个时速12.5万英里的核动力井盖

It’s always a good idea to throw out fun facts in conversations with family and friends, or better yet, new acquaintances. These make you sound smart, interesting, and you can make a good impression.

在与家人和朋友，或者更好的是新认识的人交谈时，抛出有趣的事实总是一个好主意。这些会让你听起来很聪明、有趣，而且会给人留下好印象。

These can include a variety of things like, “Did you know that the tallest building in the world is the Burj Khalifa?” or “Did you know that the largest animal in the world is the blue whale?” or “Did you know that the fastest man-made object is a manhole cover?” Yeah, we didn’t believe that either. Until it became apparent that it was true.

这些可以包括各种各样的事情，比如，“你知道世界上最高的建筑是哈利法塔吗?”或者“你知道世界上最大的动物是蓝鲸吗?”或者“你知道最快的人造物体是探井盖吗?”“是的，我们也不相信。直到这些被证明是真的。

Back in the late 1950s, the US was conducting a lot of nuclear bomb tests under the name Operation Plumbbob

早在上世纪50年代末，美国就以“铅弹行动”的名义进行了大量核弹试验

Image credits: Public Domain

A total of 29 tests were carried out in the Nevada Test Site from May to October of 1957. On August 27, 1957, around an hour before midnight, a test called Pascal-B (originally Galileo-B) took place. Like Pascal-A, it was a one-point criticality safety test of the same design. Except, it had a concrete plug similar to the collimator used in the Pascal A test, which was placed just above the device at the bottom of the shaft.

1957年5月至10月在内华达试验场总共进行了29次试验。1957年8月27日午夜前一小时左右，进行了一次名为Pascal-B(原Galileo-B)的试验。与Pascal-A一样，这是同一设计的一项单点临界安全测试。除了，它有一个类似帕斯卡测试中使用的准直器的混凝土塞，它被放置在轴底部的设备上方。

Image credits: iwishmynamewasmarsha

The collimator was so close to the explosion that it was, quite literally, vaporized. The extremely heated gas quickly expanded and blasted towards the top of the shaft where a steel plate was in place. Needless to say, the plate did not conceal the explosion and instead skyrocketed into the heavens at a speed of 56 km/s, which is 201,600 kilometers or 125,268 miles per hour.

准直仪离爆炸太近了，几乎被蒸发了。极热的气体迅速膨胀并喷向安装了钢板的井筒顶部。不用说，这个板块并没有掩盖爆炸，而是以每秒56公里的速度冲上天空，也就是每小时201600公里或125268英里。

Image credits: National Nuclear Security Administration

In perspective, this is approx. five times faster than the Earth’s escape velocity or roughly 775 times faster than a 2019 Ford Mustang GT 5.0. High-speed cameras filmed the steel manhole cover as it was flying sky-high, but scientists never found it afterward. It is very unlikely that the object managed to leave Earth as it would simply not be able to retain its speed given its lack of aerodynamics and other physical earthly forces. The dominant theory is that it was way beyond the reach of any search party to find.

正确地说，这大约比地球的移动速度快5倍，大约比2019年福特野马GT 5.0快775倍。高速摄像机拍下了井盖飞上天空的过程，但科学家们后来再也没有发现它。由于缺乏空气动力学和地球上的其他物理力量，该物体不太可能离开地球，因为它将无法保持其速度。主导的理论是，任何搜索方都无法找到它。