How far away is Space from where you are right now? How much closer is it when you’re flying in a plane? And how close is the International Space Station to Earth if we can spot it in the sky?
Travel up, up, up towards space to find out what we’d see at different heights in this animated explainer by Slurpy Studios for the Royal Observatory Greenwich. Plus, from NOAA.gov:
A common definition of space is known as the Kármán Line, an imaginary boundary 100 kilometers (62 miles) above mean sea level. In theory, once this 100 km line is crossed, the atmosphere becomes too thin to provide enough lift for conventional aircraft to maintain flight. At this altitude, a conventional plane would need to reach orbital velocity or risk falling back to Earth.
Related reading: Where, exactly, is the edge of space? It depends on who you ask.
Related listening with Vermont Public Radio’s But Why? podcast for curious kids: Where does the sky end?
Watch these related videos next: Space Rocks: Comets, asteroids, meteors, & meteorites, How do we measure the universe? and How does the Earth’s gravity help keep satellites in orbit? Plus: More videos about measuring.
Curated, kid-friendly, independently-published. Support this mission by becoming a sustaining member today.