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Original article: ¿Por qué el humano viaja actualmente en una nave a más de 1 millón de kilómetros por hora y no lo sabe?

Imagine you are reading this on your sofa, completely relaxed. Right now, you are traveling at over 1,000,000 kilometers per hour when you combine all the movements of the universe. Earth isn’t a static home; it’s a wild spaceship hurling us through the void at mind-boggling speeds. Welcome to the fastest journey you’ll ever take. Let’s break it down, without getting dizzy.

By Bruno Sommer Catalán

SPINNING ON THE AXIS (Earth’s Rotation)

The Earth completes a full rotation on its axis every 24 hours. However, this speed varies by location:

This rotation is responsible for night and day. It also creates the Coriolis effect, which influences wind and ocean currents and shapes the planet’s climate patterns.

However, we don’t feel this dizzying speed because we move along with the atmosphere, oceans, and everything around us. It’s similar to riding in a train traveling at 300 km/h: if you don’t look out the window, you won’t feel a thing.

RACING AROUND THE SUN (Earth’s Revolution)

Earth doesn’t just spin on its own; it also orbits the Sun at a speed that is four times faster than a rifle bullet. We travel around our star at 107,280 km/h, or 30 km per second.

This results in a yearly travel distance of 940 million kilometers. This motion, combined with the tilt of the Earth’s axis (23.5°), creates the seasons. If the orbit were perfectly circular and uninclined, there would be no springs or autumns, just a perpetual climate.

It’s also important to note that when Earth is closest to the Sun (perihelion, in January), it travels slightly faster than when it is farther away (aphelion, in July).

But it doesn’t end here, so buckle up because we’re moving even faster.

THE SUN DRAGS US THROUGH THE GALAXY (The Great Voyage)

Now things get really epic. Not only does Earth spin and orbit, but the entire Solar System (the Sun, planets, asteroids, and comets) is also orbiting the center of the Milky Way. And it does so at a speed eight times greater than Earth’s revolution: 828,000 km/h, or about 230 km/s.

Incredibly, the Sun and its planetary entourage are making a complete orbit around the galactic center. And how long does it take?

230 million years. The last time our Solar System was in this same position, Earth was in the Permian period, the supercontinent Pangaea was forming, and dinosaurs had yet to appear.

Speed in Space is Relative

In space, there are no roads or speed signs. Speed is always measured relative to something.

• When we say that Earth travels at 107,000 km/h around the Sun, we are saying this relative to the Sun.
• When we state that the Solar System moves at 828,000 km/h through the galaxy, we mean this relative to the center of the Milky Way.
• When we add up all movements (rotation + revolution + galactic orbit + galaxy movement), we get over 1.3 million km/h, (1,324,800 km/h) relative to the Cosmic Microwave Background (the primordial radiation from the Big Bang).

Without a fixed reference point, how can we know that we are moving? It’s like being inside a train with no windows and the brakes applied: if the train is going at 300 km/h but is smooth and silent, you might think you’re at a standstill.

Astronomers have calculated total speed by:

1. Measuring the magnitude of the resultant vector.

2. Defining a coordinate system (for example, the Cosmic Microwave Background, which is the most «fixed» reference point we have).

3. Breaking down each speed into its X, Y, and Z components.

4. Summing all components.

Clearly, our bodies don’t have speed sensors. What they have are sensors for changes in speed (acceleration, deceleration, turns).

• Earth does not accelerate or decelerate sharply. Its rotation is constant (a full turn every 24 hours) and its orbit is nearly circular and stable.
• As speed is constant and there’s no friction with the vacuum of space, there are no forces pushing or pulling us back. It’s like being in a plane at cruising altitude: when steady, you can walk down the aisle without feeling the 900 km/h you’re traveling.

Thus, our Earth and the atmosphere are not separate entities that surround us, but rather travel with us: it is our ship. It spins with the Earth, orbits with the Earth, and moves through the galaxy with the Solar System.

Since we are immersed in it, there is no «cosmic wind» hitting us. It’s as if trapped air inside the train makes you unaware of the wind outside.

Humans are traveling at over 1.3 million kilometers per hour without realizing it because there are no windows to the outer space, because we feel no constant speed, and because our lives unfold on a surface that moves with us. Earth is a perfect, silent, and stable ship, and we are passengers who haven’t even peeked out the window, while from northern Chile, a privileged point for astronomical observation, many secrets will be unveiled.

By Bruno Sommer

Founder of El Ciudadano

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