According to our current understanding of physics, objects with mass cannot attain or exceed the speed of light in a vacuum. This is a fundamental principle known as the "speed of light barrier" or the "cosmic speed limit" imposed by special relativity, a theory developed by Albert Einstein.
Special relativity states that the speed of light in a vacuum, denoted as 'c', is the maximum speed at which information or causal influence can travel through spacetime. It is a constant value, approximately 299,792,458 meters per second.
As an object with mass accelerates, its energy increases, and according to classical physics, its speed could theoretically increase without bound. However, as the object approaches the speed of light, its relativistic mass, length, and time dilation effects come into play.
As an object with mass accelerates towards the speed of light, its relativistic mass increases, requiring more and more energy to further accelerate it. As the object's speed approaches 'c', its relativistic mass becomes infinitely large, requiring an infinite amount of energy to reach or exceed the speed of light. This is not possible within our current understanding of physics.
Additionally, special relativity predicts that as an object with mass approaches the speed of light, its length contracts along its direction of motion and time dilates. These effects prevent the object from reaching or surpassing the speed of light.
In summary, objects with mass cannot exceed the speed of light due to the fundamental principles of special relativity, including the infinite energy requirement and the associated relativistic effects that become significant as an object approaches the speed of light.