14. Since light travels at 186,000 miles per second, and black holes emit no light, why couldn't we build a spaceship faster than the speed of light if we wanted to see what is in a black hole? (A K2S Question)

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The speed of light is the ultimate speed in this Universe—nothing can ever exceed it. That means that once you are in a black hole, the escape velocity needed for a rocket ship to escape would exceed the speed of light. That cannot happen, according to the known laws of physics in our Universe. The fact that light cannot escape the gravitation well of a black hole also prevents our rocket ship from ever leaving.

Answer provided by Jim Zebrowski


Image:K2S logosmall.jpg Question and Answer extracted from the book Kids to Space - by Lonnie Schorer


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