Avoiding a hit is valuable, but speed alone does not make a spacecraft safe. A ball bearing or cloud of shot encountered at a high fraction of light speed becomes a high-energy impact. The threat comes from relative velocity, so an object that is trivial at ordinary speed can be destructive in this setting. Protection, avoidance, and route control therefore remain part of the design problem. A new performance advantage often creates a new exposure instead of removing every old one.
Notable Point · 2:23:29-2:24:01
Extreme speed does not eliminate the need for protection
A very fast spacecraft still needs protection because even small debris or deliberately scattered shot carries enormous relative energy at a substantial fraction of light speed.