On Wed, 19 Jan 2005 03:46:22 GMT, "Algomeysa2"
wrote:

I'd say...you need to relax.

Mach 1 on Earth is 1000 feet/second.

Or so- it varies by more than 10% over the range that aircraft fly. I'd agree
with Thierry here- the usage is just plain wrong, and it's fair to call them on
it. If they said "faster than the speed of sound on Earth" or something similar,
I'd say fine (that isn't real precise, but it's okay with a popular science
article). But "Mach" has a precise meaning, and its usage in the article makes
things more confusing, not less.

_________________________________________________

Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
http://www.cloudbait.com