Question

12. Viking 1, the first spacecraft to land on Mars, traveled 7.00x10 km in 303 d. Calculate its average

speed in kilometers per second

Answer 1

Viking 1 had reached a top speed of over 4 kilometers per second, or almost 9000 miles per hour. This is a fair bit over 10 times the speed of sound (in air), making it well over supersonic speeds.