Randy Hyler, Age 12! Of Saluda, S.C., for his question:

How fast does a falling star travel?

A so called falling star is a meteor colliding with our giant earth. It begins to fall over the atmosphere, and we may see it when it reaches 100 miles above our heads. The speed of the fall depends upon two factors the angle from which the meteor strikes the earth and the speed at which it was traveling through space.

The searing fall may start at the fantastic speed of 45 miles a second, which is more than 160,000 miles an hour. The slowest meteors begin to fall at six miles a second, which is about 21,000 miles an hour. In any case, the air acts as a brake to slow down the fall, and a meteor strikes the ground at about the same speed as any falling object.