You ship's sensors have five main stats:
Maximum velocity does exactly what it says, it is the maximum speed at which your ship can travel after accelerating to full speed. Mass on its own does nothing, it's just a fictional number that states how much your ship weighs; If you pair Mass with the Inertia Modifier you can, with fancy math, determine the Align Time of your ship and Ship Warp Speed.
Heading, or direction, is more of a state of your ship rather than navigational statistic. The most important idea to understand from Heading is, when your ship is at full stop (Velocity is 0 m/s) your ship has NO direction.
This wouldn't be Eve if we couldn't change all the stats of our ship and our opponent's, and we have quite a few options
To change your Maximum Velocity is a very event thing in Eve. This act is so common in fact that I am not going to name every module possible in order to do so. If you want to see a list of Velocity modifying modules in Eve, check out the Ship Modules and Rigs page.
Attacking someones Velocity is also a very common event in Eve. This is done by using Stasis Webifier to attack their raw Velocity or Warp Disruptors to prevent the ship from activating Velocity increasing modules.
Changing your Mass in Eve is generally an involuntary event. You increase your mass when you activate a Afterburner or Microwarp Drive.
You can also intentionally change your mass by using a special Rig called the Higgs Anchor.
Inertia Modifier modules are common in Eve. Most ships fit them to allow them to align faster. Inertia Modifier modules are located in either the Low Slots or the Rigs.
You can “help” a ships Intertia Modifier by using a Stasis Webifier. Webs decrease a ships Maximum Velocity but also increases a ships Inertia Modifier allowing them to Align faster and activate Warp Drive more quickly. On this note, during a PvP situation you should always apply your Warp Disruptor/Scrambler on a ship BEFORE activating your Stasis Webifier
Ships inherently have a default warp speed based on the size of their hull. Outside of the default warp speed that comes with a ship, the only two ways to noticeably increase your warp speed is through a Rig called Hyperspatial Velocity Optimizer and through a Low Slot Modules called Hyperspatial Accelerator.
Align Time modules are common in Eve. Most ships fit them to allow them to align faster. Align Time modules are located in either the Low Slots or the Rigs.
You can “help” a ships Align Time by using a Stasis Webifier. Webs decrease a ships Maximum Velocity but also increases a ships Inertia Modifier allowing them to Align faster and activate Warp Drive more quickly. On this note, during a PvP situation you should always apply your Warp Disruptor/Scrambler on a ship BEFORE activating your Stasis Webifier