Usain Bolt can fly like a bird, reveals recent study

London: Usain Bolt, the fastest man on Earth, is so fast that he could fly like a bird on Saturn's moon Titan while wearing a wingsuit, according to a new study. The world-record holding sprinter, Bolt, has reached top speeds of 12.27 metres per second, which would be fast enough for him to take off on Titan while wearing a regular wingsuit.

Usain Bolt at the IAAF Diamond League in Brussels, last year. Pic/Getty Images

Theoretically, the Olympic athlete would then be able to soar above the planet - without any need for propulsion, said researchers at the University of Leicester in the UK. Physics students at the university made the calculations in their final year paper for the Journal of Physics Special Topics, a peer-reviewed student journal run by the Leicester University's Department of Physics and Astronomy.

Titan is Saturn's largest moon, and has a dense, nitrogen-rich atmosphere with a surface pressure almost 50 per cent stronger than Earth's. As a result, it has long been predicted that humans would be able to lift off into the moon's atmosphere if they were wearing wing-type devices on their arms. But now, the students have shown that it would even be possible with a regular wingsuit used by skydivers here on Earth - provided you could get a fast enough run up.

The calculation...
To calculate the speed needed, the group factored in: the density of air at the surface of Titan; the acceleration due to gravity; an average wingsuit wing area (approximately 1.4 metres squared); and the ratio of the streamline path of the air above the aerofoil to that below the aerofoil. They found that, for a normal-sized wingsuit, a run up speed of 11 metres per second would be required. While not many can run at this speed, the fastest sprinters have been shown to reach top speeds above 11 metres per second. Usain Bolt has clocked top speeds of 12.27 metres per second, meaning he can take off as he got to the finish line of a 100m race.