Cosmic Velocity - Third to Mile per Minute

The third cosmic velocity is approximately 16,700 m/s (16.7 km/s), the minimum speed to escape the Sun's gravity from Earth's orbital position.

v₃ = √(v_sun² - v_Earth²) where v_sun is solar escape velocity from Earth's orbit. Approximately 16.7 km/s relative to Earth.

To km/h: × 3,600. To mph: × 37,282. 16.7 km/s = 60,120 km/h = 37,344 mph.

Voyager missions, future interstellar probes, and calculations for leaving the solar system.

Voyager 1: ~17 km/s relative to Sun (achieved via Jupiter gravity assist). Parker Solar Probe: 163 km/s peak (but toward Sun, not away).

Thinking Voyager was launched at 16.7 km/s — it used gravity assists. Also, confusing with speed needed to escape from Sun's surface (618 km/s).

~17 km/s to leave the solar system from Earth's orbit. Voyagers achieved this with gravity assists from planets.

Mile per minute measures the number of statute miles traveled in one minute. Used for very high speeds in imperial units.

1 mi/min = 60 mph = 96.56 km/h = 26.82 m/s.

To mph: × 60. To km/h: × 96.56. To m/s: × 26.82.

Aircraft speeds (commercial jets: 8–10 mi/min), high-speed trains, missile velocities, and meteor observations.

Commercial jet cruise: ~9 mi/min (540 mph). Military jet: 15–25 mi/min. Space shuttle reentry: ~300 mi/min.

Confusing with mph — 1 mi/min is 60 times faster than 1 mph.

Simple conversion: mi/min × 60 = mph. Example: 10 mi/min = 600 mph. Good for aviation mental math.